You Have to be Joking Me
by Isabella's Mom
Summary: One shot continued for the fans. Spoliers for Sizzling Sixteen read at your own risk. My take on what should have continued at the end of the book. Morelli gets what's coming to him. Babefic! Enjoy
1. Chapter 1

You Have to Be Joking Me

**Sorry at the end of the book I couldn't help myself, the ending sucked, heres my revised version. Not mine JE owns them but I've decided to play because she doesn't seem to know how to use her own characters. Pg 308-309 Sizzling Sixteen**

_I took a shower and was about to dry my hair when my doorbell buzzed. I wrapped myself in a bath towel, went to the door, and looked out the security peephole at Morelli. _

"_What?" I asked, holding the door partially open. _

"_Can I come in?"_

"_I'm not dressed."_

_Morelli stepped into my apartment and closed and locked the door behind him. "That's perfect," he said, "because I have something for you to wear." And he dangled a lacy pink thong from his finger. "I stopped at the mall on the way home just now. I thought you'd look pretty in this."_

I couldn't believe him, this is how he thinks we should get back together. This isn't solving any of our problems. Shit, yeah we tended to get back together again and he still looked good but hell no was I playing this game with him again. I was done, I know he didn't think I was serious but he was not getting back in my bed again.

I snorted before saying "You have to be joking me, Morelli?"

He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at me all confused like a lost little puppy dog. "What, Cupcake you know you want this." He started to grip the tops of my arms to pull me into him and I started to struggle to get free but he just tightened his grip and pulled me closer to him.

At the beginning of my speech be started nuzzle and kiss the side of my neck, "Damn Joe let go of me. We are through, if you want a relationship with me it's going to be purely platonic. You will not be sleeping in my bed ever again. Do you understand?" To emphasize my point I placed my hands firmly on his chest and pushed he was still holding onto me too tightly but at least he had pulled back to look at me in the face.

"Cupcake, I thought you finally wanted to settle down, be my wife, and have my babies. You said you were going to quit your job. I thought that you were telling me you were finally going to do what I've always told you to do." God could this man be any more dense.

Snorting and finally being able to pull away I said, "Joe what I say when I'm going through a really hard time is not admissible as a plan of action. I'm not quitting my job. Period. Guess what most of the time I actually like my job, I know shocking. The people I meet, the choices I get to make during the day, the hours I get to work and the people I work with these are things I like and I'm not stopping. As to doing what _you've told_ me, it ain't happening! I've never been one to do as I've been told, you should now that better than anyone. So I'm going to ask for my key and tell you to leave."

The actual confusion on his face was priceless. He really thought I was going to just cave and let him back into my life because he bought me some panties. Guess what if that was the case I would have slept with Ranger so many times I don't think I would be able to walk straight. So his one set of panties with no explanation or jack shit wasn't cutting it.

He finally got the hint I guess. He handed over my key with a sullen expression on his face and started to unlock my door. But before he had it opened he turned to me on last time and said, "This is really it huh Steph? To tell you the truth I just thought we were going through one of our normal cycles, but you seem serious. I love you but I'm not going to wait around for very long if you want to get back together. You better make sure this is what you want because there are a lot of women who want to be with me, ok?"

Ok here goes hopefully my last snort of the night, "Joe this is the end. Do what you want, if you can find someone who wants to be with you go ahead there are no hard feelings on my end. But don't be upset if I start dating others too. You know I'm not some ugly frumpy girl either." Yeah whatever, there are other women who want to be with you how full of yourself can you be.

"Yeah your not ugly Steph but who wants to put up with a girlfriend who blows up cars, burns down buildings and gets kidnapped or stalked by psychos on a regular basis. I'm probably the last one. Bye Cupcake."

Oh no he did not. "Yeah know Joe, get out were done and just for your information you couldn't handle it and there has always been someone who could. So you are definitely not my last chance like my mother says you are." By the end I had moved to open the door completely and was waiting for him to walk out. When I glanced up at his face he looked like he was ready blow a gasket. His face had turned an unnatural shade of purple and his Italian temper vein was bulging down his neck and forehead. I know he was thinking of Ranger but I don't care he got what was coming to him with his last comment.

Finally he stepped out in to the hall and I slammed the door in his face as he turned back around to say something else to me but I was so far beyond done. I slid the deadbolt and chain into place and walked back into bathroom to finish my hair before bed.

As I was drying my hair I was wondering if I could talk Range into taking me out a few times around the burg just to rub into Joes face. I know he doesn't really want a relationship right now but we could have some fun out in public so Joe and the Burg could see that there are actually other men who can handle what I go through on a normal basis. Yeah that sounds like fun, now I just have to wait for Ranger to get home.

So with my hair done and a plan of action in place I fed Rex a grape and a carrot before falling into bed and dreaming up what kind payment Ranger would require for helping me out. Yummy I think his payment plan could have some very delectable stipulations.

**A/N So what do you think? Should this continue or just leave it as a one shot? Thanks for your reviews. **


	2. Chapter 2

You Have to Be Joking Me

Chapter 2

**Thanks to all of your support I decided to keep going. Enjoy!**

17 Days since Ranger left…

I had just finished taking a shower with a quick go around using my shower massager and was stepping out of the shower when I felt it, the low grade hum that shot from the top of my neck down straight to my doo dah. Yum Ranger was home.

I had talked to him a few times while he was away but only briefly each time. Simple checks to make sure I wasn't going crazy and he wasn't shot. Yea know the norm for us. So to begin my plan I decided I needed to apply a little pressure to the right places to make sure Ranger would agree to my plan at getting back at Joe. You see after that one night Joe has tried to get back with me 4 times, using all of his normal moves, apparently he still thought there was hope for us. The first time he bought Pino's pizza and beer to watch a game that was on TV, I answered the door took the pizza and beer said thanks for dinner and then closed the door before he was able to come in. The second time he corned me at TPD and told me how his boys missed me and I should come home, I told him his boys needed to handle their own damn business because I wasn't coming "home" again. The third time he actually had the balls to come to my parent's house for dinner hoping my mother would be able to talk some sense into me. It didn't work because once I saw him there I turned around and went to McD's for dinner. The fourth attempt had to be the most pathetic, he tried to rub a date in my face as a way to wake me up before I lost him and he added in how I hadn't been out with anyone since he left me. I told him I couldn't have lost him because I didn't want him and I wasn't trying to find him. Let's just say it's been interesting these last couple of weeks.

Job wise, since there is no more bonds office Vinnie's still working on getting backers and a place to set up at, I've decided to work at RangeMan again. It's been fun, the guys have been fun to hang with at night and joke around the office with during the day. I'm running searches and helping Tank out with the overload of paperwork he has with Ranger gone. It's actually pretty much an equal mix of using my instincts from being a BEA and from my business degree I've actually been fairly happy with the position even though I am getting a little antsy with being inside all the time. I can't wait to be able to go out and chase some skips again.

While I was musing about the last couple of weeks with Ranger away I was doing my best to moisturize my body and dry my hair into perfect ringlets before stepping out of the bathroom. I wanted to look like a natural hottie without looking like I was trying. Before I stepped out of the bathroom I looked at myself in the mirror and took a few cleansing breaths before I went out to meet Ranger and see if I could talk him into having some fun.

I opened the bathroom door and walked out like I didn't know anyone was in the apartment. I don't know if he knew I could always sense him, I think he got a similar feeling but I'm not sure. As I started my way across the living room towards my bedroom Ranger stood up and said, "Babe."

I faked a jumped and startled expression with a slight eeek and spun to face him, "Holy crap Batman, you know you shouldn't break into people's houses like this. You're supposed to knock and wait for someone to let you in." But at the end I decided to soften the reprimand by walking quickly over to him and throwing my arms around his neck to give him a hug. I said into his ear as he wrapped him arms around my back, "Welcome home, I've missed you while you were gone." Then I gave him a light but lingering kiss on his lips before pulling back slightly. While I was pulling back I decided to add a little more pressure and "accidentally" let my towel fall open for second before quickly recovering and looking down like I was embarrassed about it happening. I knew it was just a quick flash but Batman has always been very aware of his surroundings and I knew he saw at least one cherry pink nipple and my freshly waxed mound.

From the look in his eyes when I looked up I knew I had gotten to him. He was looking at me like I was pandoras box, an enigma. I knew he wanted to unwrap me but he couldn't figure out what was going on beneath the wrapping. I was confusing him. First I'm never the one to initiate a kiss, second normally if I was in a towel around him I would make a bee line for my bedroom to quickly get dressed and third I just flashed him and looked embarrassed but I hadn't backed away from him yet. All of which seemed to have stumped Batman for a minute. I think I'll enlighten him after I have his mind racing around the fact that I'm naked under a towel just a few inches away from him for awhile longer.

So to break the tension I asked with a sweet smile, "How did everything go? How long have you been back for?" I was acting like I normally do when he gets home, just this time I was in a towel. I decided to sit on the couch and place my legs crossed on the coffee table in front of me which caused my towel to ride up higher on my thigh and leaving a section right down the middle that exposed my inner thigh about 1 ½ inches from the promised land. God this was kind of fun. I had never felt like I could play on the same level as Ranger before but I think I was holding my own, except he hadn't started to apply his own pressure yet either; so I'll hold my judgment 'til he's had some time to collect himself.

Ranger answered suddenly a little huskier, "Everything on the mission went fine, as good as can be expect when you're dealing with the government. I got back a few hours ago I didn't think you'd want to see me before I had shower and nap." I looked at the clock on the cable box and decided since it was dinner time I would ask him out to start testing the waters for my plan.

"Well since it's 6:30 why don't I get dressed and we'll go out to dinner and I'll catch you up on a few things since you've been gone." I didn't wait for him to answer I just got up from the couch and walked into the bedroom. I didn't close the door this time to start getting dressed, a fact I'm sure he noticed. I was wondering how long it would take for him to appear in my doorway to watch me, it didn't take long maybe a minute and half before he was leaning again my door jam arms folded across his beautiful expanse of a chest with a slightly amused quirk playing across his lips. I had a pair of white lace panties on and I was slipping the matching bra on when he first settled in to watch. I was standing in front of my closet grabbing a cute frayed jean skirt to put on when Ranger decided to slid up behind me and place his arms around my waist. I relaxed back into him while he began to say, "Babe, there's something different going on with you, care to share?"

I turned in his arms and stretched to kiss his lips softly again before saying, "I'm not any different Batman I just don't have any quilt issues anymore holding me back. Well talk more at dinner promise." With one more quick kiss to his lips I pulled away enough to bend over, at my hips of course, to shimmy my tight skirt on. By the light groan I had elicited I was apparently doing fairly well at making Ranger a happy man. I went to my bureau and grabbed a royal blue tank top that created an excellent amount of cleavage and then grabbed a great pair of Stuart Weitzman espadrille sandals that have a 3 inch wedge and wrapped beautifully up my legs. I walked through the bedroom and into the bathroom to swipe on a couple of coats of mascara, lip gloss and some dolce vita perfume. I took one last look in the mirror and deemed myself naturally sexy looking and ready to go.

I turned to Ranger who was now perched on the arm of the couch and asked him, "Where do you want to go for dinner?"

He looked at me for a beat probably checking my heart and blood pressure from a distance and said, "Pinos?"

"Sure"

This was going to workout perfectly and I hadn't even talked to him about my master plan yet. We were going to the heart of the burg to have dinner and I knew before we even had our pizza that Joe will have gotten at least 10 calls that I was there with Ranger on what looks to be a date. I wonder if he'll try and show up? Hmmm that could be interesting.

It only takes about 10 minutes to get to Pinos so it was a short ride to our destination. As soon as Ranger shut off the engine he was making his way around the car to open my door and assist me out. I placed my hand in his and stepped out. Normally he would either let go or I would but this time once I was standing and he had closed and locked the door I interlocked our fingers to make our way inside the restaurant.

To say the restaurant went silent when we made our way inside with our hands joined together would be a gross understatement. The place was so quite that I swear I could hear the rumored cockroaches that lived there running around inside the walls. Ranger noticed too of course that everyone there was staring at us so he quickly looked over everyone with a menacing glance trying to scare them into continuing whatever it was they were doing before we entered and it seemed to work. When his gaze came back to me he looked amused and I swear to God Ranger rolled his eyes and then shook his head as in saying I can't believe these people. I must be wearing off on Ranger, he looked so cute when he did it that I strained my neck and kissed him on the underside of his jaw back by his ear and said, "Batman you shouldn't let other people see you roll your eyes they might think you've gone soft." Pulling back I smiled lightly while walking towards the booth in the back so that Ranger could keep his back to the wall. I don't know how but it's always available when I come here with him. I swear the man has the best karma of anyone I know. I knew at least 75% of the patrons were still subtly watching us so the display of affection did not go unnoticed and I had also noticed that quite a few cop buddies of mine and Joes were at Pino's and a few were even on their phones. See I hadn't even ordered yet and I'm positive Joe already knows where I am and with whom.

So after we had placed our order and gotten our pitcher of beer I decided to let Ranger in on what had happened these last few weeks and what my plan of attack was. Hopefully I had wet Ranger's appetite enough at home that he would be willing to work with me. So after leaning back in the booth and placing my left leg on the seat next to Ranger I decided to start talking. I gave myself a quick mental pep talk and plunged ahead straight to heart of the matter. "So you knew that Joe and I had broken up a few weeks before you left right?" slight head nod for verification, " well the night you told me you were leaving for a few weeks he came by my apartment to try and get back together by buying a pink thong and asking me to wear it for him." I snorted and shook my head at the audacity and stupidity of the man that night, this cause a raised eyebrow from Ranger for me to continue. "Well I told him he had to be joking because seriously that didn't fix any of our problems. And then he continued to dig himself a deeper hole and then eventually he said he was my last chance at happiness with a man because he was the only one who could deal with all the shit that I attract and told me if I didn't change my mind soon he'd quickly have another woman in his bed." Insert eye roll here. "And I told him there was already someone who could deal with it better than him, you." This got me another eyebrow raise.

We put off talking for a little while because our food got to our booth just then. He of course was eating some chicken salad thing and I had ordered lasagna and cheesy garlic bread. After a few minutes of eating I decided to let him in on the plan. I have no idea what was running through his mind because lets face it Ranger only shows his emotions when he chooses and right now he was waiting for more information before choosing a course of action.

I started quickly while cutting up more of my lasagna for consumption, "I have a plan, you see, to piss Joe off for being such an ass. He thinks I can't find a date and you're the one person I know he can't really stand. You've always rubbed him the wrong way and us being seen in public around Trenton and the Burg for a few weeks would just be icing on the fuck you cake I want to send him. Ya' see it's not that I care what he thinks or that I want to get back together or work things out it's that he thinks he's Mister Hotty and I should feel lucky that he wants to be with me. Pulease! And his pride is hurt because I turned him down that night and 4 times since then. I just want to rub it in his face a bit that I could have another guy interested in me just as easily as he can have another woman. I know it's kind of childish but it would make me feel really good to do this. What do you think so far?"

Playing right into the role of the badass opportunistic mercenary I was hoping for he placed his right hand on my leg that was still positioned on the booth bench next to him and gliding it up my calf , over my knee to rest on my thigh he ask, "what would be my incentive to take you out? You already owe, so why would I want to help you with this plan of yours?"

I had to smile at the simplicity of this plan because seriously he would come out of this very happy at the end, I might get my heart torn out but I doubted it. I had a feeling, a sense, that I was going to be getting my wish of turning this whole plan into a permanent relationship with Batman, because like he's told me before I have all the power in our relationship I just had to figure out how to apply the right pressure and to use his rule book. "Well Ranger the incentives would be of your choosing, you're right I do already owe you, but that would be a one time only payback. But if were dating, even if we're only dating to piss Joe off and it's only for a short time were still going to be in a pre-arranged committed relationship, a deal of sorts, this would allow you the benefits of said committed relationship which would include a benefits package that you get to create. How do you like the terms of this deal?" I ended with a cocky female wolf grin while staring right into his eyes.

**RPOV**

All night Steph had been acting different; good different but still not quite like herself. She told me she wasn't any different just that she didn't have any more quilt issues which was a nice change but I wasn't so sure I could handle her like this. The way she's acting is getting to me quickly, since I saw her in that towel and especially after her towel slipped my iron tight control was slipping. All I wanted to do was bury my cock in her and make her scream and at the moment doing it on the table at Pino's sounded just about perfect. And here she is sitting in front of me with a cocky ass grin on her face asking if I like the terms of her deal. Fuck, do I look like I came off the short bus, Hell No! Shit if I was being honest I would do a happy dance if it wouldn't completely kill my reputation, so I studiously school my blank face to only expose the desire and lust I felt for this woman before I answered her.

"Babe, are you sure about this? I've told you before I can make you forget him if I put my mind and other parts in you. You won't be able to go back to him again I promise you that." I said all this while letting my hand wander up her thigh some more and grabbing it slightly to pull her closer to the edge of the booth. Once I had her where I wanted her I moved my hand under her skirt to rub my thumb over her lace panties. I wanted to see how far she was letting me take this because she did say I could create my own benefits package that meant I could do what I wanted. This could get very interesting. "My own benefits package can include a lot of things that will broaden your horizons are you sure, now would be the time to tell me if you have any rules or restrictions." With my warning in place I slid my finger inside her panties to touch her very wet lips, lightly just teasing her while we were in public. I raised one eyebrow at the low throaty moan and I cocked my head to one side waiting for her to set any ground rules she had.

Before she continued I slid my hand away from her center and back over her leg and calf before placing my finger still coated in her juices in my mouth to clean it up. Fuck she always tastes so good, I've always liked pie but Steph's has a super sweet taste to her that makes me just want to bury my head between her legs eat her every time I come in contact with her. The glazed over look of lust on her face was priceless. She quickly righted her self and looked me straight in the face without flinching or blinking and said, "Just no other women, that's your _only_ restriction. I don't share well, even if it is for just a few weeks, understand?"

I was mentally doing a pretty good fish impression, my Babe just gave me permission to do whatever I want with her as long as I didn't bring in another woman to the mix, holy shit! This has got to be most men's idea of heaven. I wonder if after all this I would be able to give it up. Hmm… something to think about later. Just then Morelli walked in and the entire restaurant got very quite, just like when we had come in. He hadn't noticed where we were sitting yet so I told Steph, "Come here Babe, the shows about to start."

Understanding lit up her face as she quickly slid over to my side of the booth. I placed my left arm over her shoulder and nuzzled into her neck while moving my right hand high on her thigh. I just continued to kiss and nip at her neck while listening to her giggle and moan softly from what I was doing to her. I had to smile into her neck, only Steph would be giggling right now. "What's so funny Babe?" I asked her huskily while licking the shell of her ear which elicited a soft moan in response.

"I had wondered earlier how long it would take him to show when you picked Pino's for dinner. I don't now why he's so adamant that we should still be together." She turned to look up at me from below her gorgeous lashes and smiled slowly and said, "Thanks for doing this for me, I promise you'll enjoy the benefits," and with that parting comment she kissed me with a hot open mouth kiss that I intensified by slipping my tongue into caress her mouth and taste her natural sweetness. That is until a very loud and annoyed Italian decided to interrupt our moment.

"Cupcake," God could he be more annoying with that nickname. I hate that he calls her that.

SPOV

I know this is what I wanted but the actual reality of the situation was a lot more to deal with than the fantasy. Ranger had just had his fingers under my panties no more than 2 minutes ago and here's Joe in front of me looking like he's about to strangle someone, probably me because Ranger could kill him fairly easily.

"Joe, what can I do for you I'm in the middle of something," I stated with a sense of calm I was hardly feeling.

Joe flicked his gaze between Ranger and me a few times before deciding to comment. "I know you're doing this just to get to me; why else would you pick this restaurant. God Cupcake you need to leave with me now before I won't let you come back home." Again with the too big ego, where does it come from? I know most people in the Burg believe he's the shit when it comes to bedroom performance and I will admit he's no slouch but compared to a Cuban induced orgasm I'll pass. Plus his attitude just pisses me off more and more, sometimes I have no clue why I dated him so long. But he just continued on, "If you let him touch you I won't let you come back no matter how much you beg or what you offer. I will not have my future wife being ruined by a thug like him; I don't want her to be Manoso's whore."

Now these last few statements were enough for him to get not only a reaction from Ranger and me but also the entire crowd at Pino's gave a collective gasp of anticipation.

The moment the word whore was out of his mouth I was on my feet with fisted hands. I was so far into Rhino mode Lula would have been proud.

"Just for your information Morelli I would rather be his whore than your wife because at least if I'm his whore I now I won't have to fake any orgasms. I know he'll take care of my every need, where as with you I was only satisfied when I helped to finish myself off." Oh shit, did I just say that inside of Pino's crap I'm so never going to get Pineapple upside down cake again. Well I'm already in for a penny I might as well be in for a pound and finish it off. "And just between you and me he's already touched me and in some areas you've never been allowed."

Joe was so fast I didn't even see it coming; he grabbed me by my left arm and pulled so hard I gasped at the pain that shot through my shoulder as he pulled me from the booth area and Ranger. He yelled, "You are coming home now! You will be my wife, I'll just have to…"

He never got to finish that sentence because Ranger had grabbed him by his throat and put his Sig Sauer .45 to his temple and said in a deadly calm voice, "You will let her go now," and at the end of that statement he cocked the trigger.

Oh Shit!

Apparently Joe realized Ranger was deadly serious and immediately let me go, I quickly moved towards Ranger and slumped into his side. Just needing to soak up his strength and calm him down enough to remove the gun from Joes head. I looked up at Ranger and spoke quietly into his ear, "I'm ok, you can let him go now." At first I wasn't sure he was going to listen to me, he looked down into my eyes and he seemed to calm down enough to release Joe and put his gun back. "Thank you, can you take me home now." I gave him a small smile to reassure him again.

He gently led me past Joe who looked to be in some kind of stupor and walked me to the Turbo. I don't now what was going through his head, I was wondering if he would still "date" me after this crazy episode. I reached over and placed my hand on his thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze trying to reassure myself and him that we were ok. He seemed to unfreeze after that and interlaced our fingers and kept it on his thigh and we rode home… wait a minute we weren't heading towards my house we were on Haywood. Huh? What's going on?

**A/N Thanks for all the support can't wait for your reviews and comments. Please keep them coming. I love to see what you all say. **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

We pulled into Haywood just a few minutes later and I still hadn't asked Ranger what we were doing here. I thought I asked for home, I figured he would tell me in a little while. Ranger killed the engine and came around to my side of the car to help me out. He kept his arm slung across my waist where he was tracing small circles with his thumb as we walked onto the elevator. The small intimate gesture was doing very interesting things to my hormonal balance. Well two can play that game. When we entered the elevator I rotated so that I was in front of Ranger, I placed my hands on his chest and moved them over his shoulders, up his neck and twisted them into his hair while pushing his head down to meet my slightly parted lips. I began the kiss at an even calming pace but Ranger had other ideas he quickly flipped our positions so that I was now backed into the wall and the kiss became demanding and hungry. As the kiss continued Ranger's hands roamed down to my ass and lifted me up so I naturally obliged and wrapped my legs around Ranger's waist where I could feel his very prominent hard on right against the one place I haven't had him in two years. I wanted a Ranger induced orgasm and I wanted it right NOW.

I slowly came to the realization that the elevator had stopped moving and it was waiting on 7 for us to disembark. It made me start to giggle because Ranger still hadn't noticed and since it wasn't closing and going to another floor that meant the guys on monitor duty were watching our little show. I know I should have been embarrassed but come on I was in a happy kissing fog produced by their boss, they weren't going to say shit to me.

I rasped out, "Ranger, were here."

"Huh," was his eloquent answer as he continued to assault my neck. It was so un-Ranger like that I quickly began giggling, that pulled him from his work and he looked around at was going on.

"Need to be more aware of your surroundings Ranger, your guys have been getting a free show and we've been stuck up here for a little while," I explained while looking into his face with a huge grin plastered on my face. I gave the guys on monitor duty a little finger wave and started to dislodge myself from Ranger, he wasn't having none of that, he kept his arms around me like steel bands as he walked off the elevator and into the apartment.

When we made it over to the couch Ranger sat down and readjusted me so that I was straddled across his lap. He still hadn't said anything and he looked like he was thinking so I decided to give him time.

**RPOV**

I didn't know how to start between what I witnessed all evening with Steph and then with Morelli at dinner I wasn't sure what to do. Steph has more confidence; it's as if she's decided the Burg doesn't matter to her anymore which is great because the atmosphere in that community is stifling to anything or anyone that is considered different. Then Morelli, god I always respected the man because I thought he would make Steph happiest in the end, but obviously I was wrong. He's an ass and therefore not suitable for Steph, she's deserves better, much better. I'm better.

I've always wanted Steph, I mean she's hot, who wouldn't, but in the last few years what I felt for her has deepened to the point where she is truly one of my closest friends. I trust her implicitly and I love her with everything that I have but… but what Manoso?

As I sat looking at her beautiful face on the couch I realized I didn't just want her for a pre-arranged time frame. I wanted her for forever. There was no longer a but at the end of my statement of love for her. I didn't want her to leave. I was going to ask her to stay with me as part of my benefits package but now I realized that I wanted her to stay forever to always have her to come home to and fall asleep with. Shit! Now I have to try and convince her that I don't want just some temporary arrangement. Words are not my strong suit so I'll have to rely on actions for as long as possible, by then maybe I'll have the right words.

I'm quite shocked even if I don't show it because my Babe has just let me sit here thinking without interrupting once. She's snuggled down into my chest with her right hand snacked in my hair giving me a scalp massage with the pads of her fingers. God it feels good, I don't really allow much physical contact in my life. Steph is the only person who really touches me. Sometimes I have to get physical with the guys on the mats, or skips when their being difficult but that's not real human contact that's aggression. And my family does a lot of head slapping with a few quick hugs and kisses on the cheek but it's not the same as what Steph gives me. Even the women I've been with its not the same, there's no real emotion and all contact is for the single purpose of getting an orgasm. There's never any comfort or love in their actions. But with Steph comfort and love is always her underlying emotion, a necessity, that's why I've know she loves me for a long time even when she's never said it before.

"Babe," I asked.

"Hmmm..." she purrs, I guess she's comfortable.

"Has Morelli always been like that with you? So forceful?" I had to ask I wanted to know if he'd hurt her before.

"Nah, he's never tried to pull me before or anything like that. I think I just pulled the tiger's tail a bit too much tonight. I think he just snapped a bit. No worries Ranger I wouldn't have stayed with him so long if he'd been physical with me before." She ended with a little tap of her left hand which is resting over my heart.

A grunt is my answer to her statement showing that I acknowledge her answer. I still don't like it, I'll have to watch and make sure Morelli doesn't get any worse with Steph. He's going to have to learn that the rules are different now.

Finally I decide to tell her that she'll be living with me know as a condition of my benefits package, "So I'll have Ella go tomorrow to your apartment and pack up your clothes, shoes, toiletries and Rex so she can bring them back her and set everything up. Is there anything else you want from the apartment?"

She didn't really fight me on living here which I take as a good sign. She's asked for Ella to pack her DVDs also, since my collection lacks most of her girly movies. I did have the Ghostbuster collection for her but other than that she says all my movies are too male for her. Whatever that means, come on I'm a male special forces Ranger I don't think men come anymore male than me, why would I have The Notebook in my collection.

I slowly pulled her up with me and we head towards the bedroom. We sat out here a lot longer than I though it was already after 2300 and I still needed more sleep.

**SPOV**

To say I was shocked when Ranger asked me to stay with him would be an understatement. I've always had free reign to come and go from Haywood and the 7th floor but to ask me, well it was more like telling me, to stay was extremely exciting. His place has everything mine lacks, a totally stocked fridge and cabinets, security, great sheets, great bed, awesome shower and tub, an Ella and not to mention a sexy male in between the great sheets. His penthouse is heaven.

When we made it back to the bedroom I went straight to the bathroom to get ready for bed, I still had a basket full of my personal toiletries that Ella always keeps stocked for me. Then I went out to face Ranger. I went into the closet to look for a shirt to wear to bed as he went into the bathroom to take care of himself.

I went straight to my side of the bed and crawled under the sheets with a moan of pleasure at how good it felt to be in his bed again. When Ranger walked out of the bathroom my mouth dropped open, my eyes glazed over and I know for sure I started to drool because the man walked out naked! Holy Hot Cakes Batman! He is perfect and he well knows it.

"Ummm Ranger I think you forgot something," I said a bit breathlessly. Yeah let's see you do any better when perfection walks towards you naked. He wordlessly shook his head no to my question with a slight smile on his face.

"Actually your bit overdressed Babe" said Ranger as he stalked up the bed to my side. He ended up hovering right above me. Any will power I had was gone, I leaned upwards and kissed Ranger with as much force as I had, he deepened the kiss while taking over getting me undressed. I felt his hands slipping under the hem of the shirt and our mouths disconnected for him to rip it over my head before we resumed kissing and stroking each other's bodies. I was so lost in my happy fog that that when he moved down towards my neck and then my breasts I could barely register the need to breath. Ranger was kissing, sucking, licking, biting and purely torturing my body. I was so close to my first orgasm from this man it was insane, he hadn't even touched my pussy and I was millimeters from heaven. Slowly he bent his head down to bite my neck once more while twisting my nipple that was in his hand and that was it I was gone seeing stars from release. When I was calm enough for my thought processes to work again my panties were gone and Ranger was lying down next to me making lazy circles over my stomach. Already I could feel the tightening in my belly waiting for more.

"You know when you cum it's so beautiful. I've seen my fair share of women when their having an orgasm and it's never been as gorgeous when you do it." With that statement hanging out there he kissed me solidly and then pulled back so that he was on his side and he closed his eyes keeping his arm wrapped around me.

Wait what, I'm confused are we done? I don't get it, I looked down his body and yup he still had a very impressive erection throbbing just inches from where I want him. So why does it feel like this is ending. I rolled myself so that I was half lying on top of him and started kissing his neck when a small hum of satisfaction creeped out of Ranger's throat.

"Babe, go to sleep."

"Why, you seem to be experiencing a very hard problem. I think we should fix it," I said while continuing to assault his neck and letting my left hand wander down across his chest, abs and hips.

"Hmmm… Babe as great as that sounds I don't want to," WTF Ranger's turning down sex? Did hell just freeze over, I quickly tried to scramble off of Ranger but his arms wrapped around me in a tight hug. "Let me finish," I nodded approval. "I just… shit… I just want you to decide to have sex with me again because you want me. I want you to decide that you need me so bad you can't stand another second without my dick buried so far inside of you that you can practically taste me. I want you to need me, as bad as I need you. The last time we did this it was because of a stupid deal too, I want this because I want you but I don't want you to feel obligated. I need to know you feel the same way. I want you dreaming about my face buried between your legs, my fingers inside you, my cock plunging in and out, my mouth on your breasts, your legs wrapped around my waist. Until I'm certain you want that, until you convince me you really want me for me I won't fuck you. No matter how bad I want to." He said all this while looking me in my eyes his voice low and husky just above a whisper. God just hearing him talk is like a sexual experience. I was sure if he kept talking about what he wanted to do to me I would have had another orgasm.

I just nodded my approval; shit what else was I going to say. I couldn't think clearly. He settled back into his pillows making himself comfortable but not allowing me to move away from him. Fine with me, every other time we've ever slept together I always landed in this position anyways. I had one more question though, "Uh Ranger, why can't I sleep in your shirt then if were not going to have sex?"

I could feel his chest shake slightly with laughter before he answered me, "Any woman that's mine and is in my bed is going to sleep naked, just like I do every night." Holy hot flash! "I know what you're thinking, some of the other times I slept in boxers with you here. You were off the market then, I wore those in an attempt to respect that. Now sleep."

I was a good girl after that and said, "Yes, master," while burrowing my self deeper in his chest for sleep to overcome me.

I could feel Ranger chuckle again before saying, "I like that sound of that, I think you should call me master more often." Then he kissed my forehead and we really did both go to sleep.

**I was being dragged to awareness** by something feather soft being moved around on my face. I tried to swat it away and came in contact with soft flesh. I peeked one eyelid open and I noticed Ranger's face smiling at me, a full 200 watt eye crinkle type smile that makes most women walk into walls or drop things from just being in the vicinity of it. Me, I respond with a large sharp intake of breath as a result and a hammering heart rate, when this man decides to smile its extraordinary.

"Morning Babe," he says as if it's the most normal thing in the world for me to wake up with me in his bed. Ok so maybe it does happen fairly often, but it's definitely not a normal occurrence…yet.

"Hmm… mornin' Batman," I said lazily. "Are you getting up to work out?"

"Nope, I needed extra sleep from this last mission so I decided to sleep in with you. Plus I wanted to shower with you before work."

Holy crap he expects me to shower with him and not have sex. I gulped audibly and said, "You still don't want to have sex and yet you want me to shower with you?" I tried to raise one of my eyebrows like him but it just wasn't happening, so both shot up. I so need to learn how to do that.

He pulled me up out of bed and I quickly tried to drag the sheet around me but Ranger noticed that too and grabbed it back and threw it on the bed wrapping his arms around my waist dragging me up against his morning wood. Oh God I wanted this man so much I think my eyes rolled back in my head and I started to purr just from the feel of him. He whispered into my ear, "You don't need to cover up ever in my presence, your body is perfect. All I ever want to do is lick a slow path from the tips of your toes up to that gorgeous mouth when I see you. Come on we need to get in the shower and get ready before the morning meeting." With that he swatted my ass playfully and pushed me into the bathroom to take care of my personal business before he met me in the shower.

The shower was like my own personal hell and heaven wrapped into one. Ranger washed my hair and body with slow lingering kisses and wandering hands. I reciprocated but he wouldn't let it go any farther. By the end of the shower I was seriously frustrated, I needed another orgasm, I needed a release and he wasn't giving me one this morning, last night was like a sweet temptation, an alluring promise of what's to come. I don't know what I needed to do to show, or prove to Ranger I needed him but I was damn good and well on my way to dreaming and thinking about nothing but Ranger and what he could do to my body.

We both got dressed quickly and while I was in the bathroom putting on makeup and fixing my hair Ranger went out and ordered breakfast. By the time I was done Ella had dropped off Ranger's norm of bagels with lox and cream cheese with fruit and coffee. At least while living with Ranger I didn't have to worry about food and I'd probably lose some weight with all the healthy food I'd consume, so there's another bonus from staying here.

**We made it way down to the office** by 8:30 for the morning meeting. I sat through it with very few daydreams so I was satisfied with my level attention for the morning. I made my way over to my cubicle to begin my day. Like I said I had been doing a lot of the paperwork for the guys since Ranger had left and the searches, so now that he was back I would probably be back to doing just searches. I was kind of disappointed in that because the paperwork really wasn't that bad. The contracts and things were easy, the schedules were interesting because so many of the guys had different obligations and vacations and day offs to schedule. I had started going through some of the searches from the day before with a highlighter, trying to emphasize some of the more interesting aspects for the guys to go over as a new search was running when Ranger buzzed me to come into his office.

I walked over to his office after locking my computer down and my searches in my desk draw. All SOP (standard operating procedure). I knocked and heard his curt, "Enter" before walking in. "Shut and lock the door," he said again all business and demanding like. Fuck it never fails to make my panties wet when he acts all dominating like.

Since we were in his office with no one around I decided to play with Ranger a little and said, "Yes Master," in a subservient manner.

The look of lust that flashed across his face made my heart start to hammer out of my chest. He said, "Babe, before we go down that path I wanted to know how you've enjoyed the responsibilities since you've been back?"

"Oh I've really enjoyed it actually. With my business degree and my FTA experience the paperwork and the searches are right up my ally. The only thing I miss is being able to go out during the day. Maybe getting back to the skip business would help that," I finished with a shrug.

"Is it actually catching skips or just getting out of the office that you want, because I have a proposition for you?"

"Shoot, what did you have in mind?" I asked. Kind of curious about what he wanted me to do for him.

"I was thinking if you wanted to get of the office you could come with me and start taking meetings with clients. You're extremely personable; you know the information and the contracts and people like you and trust you quickly. Unlike Tank and myself the clients will be put at ease quickly with you there. I would come with you for awhile and then you can go on your own once your comfortable and then I would only come if I'm requested, which does happen sometimes. What do you think? If your not comfortable with this I understand but I think it would be a great job for you."

WOW I can't believe he trusts me enough to meet with his clients. Oh my gosh I think I'm gonna' cry, I can feel the tears starting to prick at the corners of my eyes. I'm not gonna' cry, I'm not gonna' cry, I'm not gonna cry, became my instant mantra while blinking rapidly. Ranger was just sitting there with a strained expression on his face waiting for my answer, Batman definitely never likes it when I cry. "Yeah," I say quietly, "I think I'd like doing that," finishing with a huge smile on my face showing how excited I am for this opportunity.

"Good I thought you were going to say no there for a second. I've actually thought you'd be great at this job for awhile but you've never worked her long enough for me to offer it up. Now to other more important business, where do you want to go tonight out on our date?"

A date huh, where to go to get the most exposure hmmm, "How about Rossini's for dinner and then out dancing somewhere. What club do you want to go to?" I've never seen Ranger dance but I know for sure he would move great on the dance floor.

"I now a few clubs we do security at so we'll go to one of those. I'll make reservations for dinner tonight at 8:00, does that work?" I nod my head in approval and begin to stand and walk towards the door when suddenly the atmosphere changes and Ranger orders, "Sit." I turn around slowly to see that look of lust and aggression back in his eyes, so I turn and sit as ordered and said, "Yes master," with a small smile on my lips while keeping my eyes averted from his. See here's the thing most people don't know, not even Joe ever figured it out, in the bedroom I like to be dominated. I know most people would never think that because I have an independent streak that's a miles long and wide but for whatever reasons in the bedroom I love to be submissive it turns me on like nothing else can. Ranger was the one guy who seemed to be able to pick this up, I have no idea how or why because we were only together that one night for less than 10 hours I guess it was instinctual for him just like his knowledge of the rest of my pressure points but he did and he used it to make me crazy that night. Joe never realized I would like this type of foreplay but he also never tried it on me and I never trusted him enough to clue him in on it.

**RPOV**

Fuck I love this game. For a naturally aggressive male like myself I love hearing her call me Master, I know I'm fucking sick but her deciding to call me Master and letting me play this with her is such a turn on I'm already hard for her. I had no clue she would like this type of game, but once I found out that one night, this became a staring fantasy in my wet dreams about her.

"Strip," I said to her in my most commanding voice while staring at her without flinching or blinking. Her eyes snapped up to mine with lust and apprehension about doing it in my office. I can't allow that type of disobedience, "Stip or you'll have to be punished."

I saw a small shiver run through her mind as she thought of what kind of punishment I could deal out. "Yes master," she said quietly as she began to strip out of her uniform. She got undressed in no time at all. I came around my desk and circled her quietly while looking at her with lust filled eyes. God I love this woman. I slowly stopped in front of her and told her, "Kiss me." Her immediate response was, "Yes master." Then she proceeded to kiss me and fist her hands in my hair, now look whose being dominate, nope can't have any of that. I grabbed her hands from my hair and locked them in my one hand behind her back bending her body backwards pressing her delicate chest into me more. I heard her moan in response so I moved my free hand down her body to gently tweak her nipple eliciting another moan while I continued to travel down her body to her ass. I decided she needed a little spanking for her slight hesitation about stripping earlier, so I spun her around and told her, "put your knees on the chair and hold on to the back of it." She immediately complies, good girl!

I began with slight smacks to her round ass leaving red hand prints that vanish quickly but then I began to make them a little harder and her moans began to drive me insane. As we continued our little torture session I could see her getting more and more aroused because she moved her legs farther apart and I could see that her pussy was slick with her arousal, not to mention she was starting to lean into each slap of my wrist. Her orgasm from the spanking was incredible to watch, this woman's response to me was always amazing but she could make me hard with a look so I guess it goes both ways. Her ass was completely red when I was finished so I started to rub her ass sensitively placing sweet kisses on her beautifully rosy ass. "Next time, will you strip when I tell you to?"

"Yes Master"

"Good girl now you can get dressed before you go back to work but you're going to give me your panties. You won't be wearing any for the rest of the work day. Understood?"

"Yes Master"

When she was finished getting dressed I walked over to her with a gentle smile on my face and gave a her a sweet kiss, "Thanks for playing Babe."

Her answering smile and peck on the lips was answer enough to my lingering question of if she liked the game too. She said before she left, "I'll need to buy more clothes for going to client meetings with you. Do you want me to do that this weekend?"

"Yeah we'll go this weekend, are you going shopping for our date tonight as well?"

"No I have the perfect dress for dinner and dancing tonight, I've actually never had a chance to wear it since no one ever takes me out. See ya' after work Batman."

With that Babe walked out of my office with a happy smile on her face and her panties in my pocket so I can finger them for the day. Oh yeah life is good, wonder how long until she begs for more than just foreplay, hopefully not long because having a hard on like this won't be easy to carry around for long.

Now to get to work so I can play this weekend.

**A/N Hope you enjoy, I love to read your review and comments so please keep them coming. Any suggestions about what else they should do in the burg to draw attention? **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**SPOV**

After leaving Ranger's office after our very sexy interlude I was a bit distracted so I decided to stop in the break room for some coffee before heading back to my cubicle. Everything that has happened since last night when Ranger got home was almost too much to comprehend and now he's offering me a very permanent and important job on his team. That was probably as surprising as Ranger foregoing his release for me to convince him I wanted him personally, not just to have sex with him in an attempt to fulfill the deal I set down. The crazy part is I want Ranger completely because I love him completely, for me this isn't just about us having fun, which it is, but it's also about showing him we can work ourselves into each others lives with fairly limited effort. But how to convince him? Best to be worked out later when I'm not on the boss' time clock.

Headed back over to my cubicle to finish up my searches and highlighting I stopped to shoot the shit with the guys on monitor duty. Everyone seemed to be treating me the same as before, no one made any statements about Ranger and I which I sense was more about preserving their life and livelihood and not about respecting my personal life. Ranger tends to take issue with his men commenting about his private life and since I'm definitely apart of his life they won't be grilling me for details like Connie or Lula would have been.

As the day rolled on life seemed to be normal and my morning interlude in Ranger's office seemed to be more like an erotic dream than an actual event. Ranger was definitely right about one thing, I was slowly torturing myself with daydreams about what I wanted Ranger to do to me but I still hadn't a clue as to how to prove to him I wanted him for him and not just sexual release. At about 2 o'clock I got a ring from, Zero who was working in the lobby that I had a package to pick up which was weird because I normally don't get any type of deliveries and especially not at work. I made my way down to see Zero and I couldn't believe my eyes, I had a delivery of at least 3 dozen absolutely gorgeous long stem red roses in a beautiful crystal vase. WOW! I made my way over to check out the display and the smell that assaulted me was beautiful beyond imagining there's nothing better than the smell of fresh roses, yum. There was a card attached and it simply said, "Babe, Can't wait to take out on the town tonight. XX Carlos."

OMG Carlos, what's with the name change? Hmmm… wonder if he wants me to start calling him that.

After my delivery I had Zero ask Ella to bring the flowers to the apartment for me and then I continued about my day with a silly grin permanently etched on my face. At about 5:30 I decided that I had worked hard enough and I wanted to make sure I was extra presentable for Carlos (I like the way that sounds) before our date.

Once I was in the apartment I set about getting ready for my primo hot date. I wanted to look special since I'll have to admit this was my first date since college when I met Dickie. Joe and I were together for years and we never really dated. We kind of fell into bed together first and since he'd already had the milk, as my Mom would say, he decided that it wasn't worth the effort to woo me by going out to dinners or going dancing; hell the most romantic thing he ever did was let me back out of our fake engagement. I only ever got flowers from him once and that was yellow carnations one Valentines Day, everyone knows yellow is for friendship yeah I should have known then that what we shared was definitely not the forever kind of love that would make me want to change or settle down with him.

The apartment looked like it normally did except in the bedroom closet which was now overflowing with my clothes, shoes and handbags. All of my stuff in the bathroom also helped with the more lived in look of the penthouse. Ranger has always spent a great deal of time in this apartment but it still never seemed like a place you could call home, no personal effects can have that affect on a space.

First up I decided to grab the dress I decided on for our date which was a saucy little number. The dress was a beautiful deep turquoise that enhanced my eye color it was a wrap around style with a swishy delicate hem that ended an inch or two above my knees. What made the dress amazing was the way it highlighted my neck and chest area with the wide boat neck and tiny cap sleeves, it made my neck look a mile long and the contrast in color between the dress and my skin tone made look like a porcelain doll. It was perfect, especially paired with a gorgeous pair or peep toe heels that I had been dying to wear out. I found a pair of matching Vickies undies and bra before heading into the shower for my beautification ritual. I washed, scrubbed, exfoliated and shaved myself into a tizzy before exiting the shower.

I first used my blow drier on my hair after moisturizing my tresses with Mr. Alexander's wonderful hair serum. After my hair was almost dry I decided to let it finish drying with curlers in so that my curls would have more structure for the evening. Once my hair was set I decided to give myself a mani/pedi to match my dress because the red I was sporting didn't match. I quickly removed my polish and began first with my pedicure giving myself a French tip so that I wouldn't clash no matter I was wearing the rest of the weekend. After finishing my toes I decided to let them dry and start in on my make up because I knew I wouldn't be able to after I put the polish on my nails. I decided to do a heavy smoky eye with a lot of gray and a hint of turquoise on the lids to match the dress, some blush for definition on my cheeks and sweet rose lip gloss to set off my lips was the end of my needed makeup. I finished up my nails with a clear gloss coat and set off to the living room to relax in Carlos' bathrobe and watch some TV while I waited for everything to dry I still had 40 minutes before he would be back up to take me out.

After twenty minutes off excessive fanning and blowing I figured my nails were dry enough for me to finish my hair and get dressed. I decided to leave my hair down since it looked amazing and went to get dressed in the wardrobe. While I was in there I heard the door in the hall open and shut and not too long after Ranger was standing in the closet looking at me in my lingerie for the evening with a wolf grin that even The Big Bad Wolf himself couldn't rival, "Babe" that was his greeting before stepping into the bathroom to shower and get ready. Men have it so easy, we had less then 15 minutes to leave for reservations at 8 and he's going to be in, out and ready in less time than it takes me to do my makeup. I quickly slipped into my dress and headed out to load up my silver clutch with my necessities.

I had my back turned away from the bedroom so I was quite startled when Carlos walked up behind me and moved my hair away exposing my neck. He began laying sweet kisses along all the areas of exposed flesh that make me turn to a pile of mush and when he met my ear he said, "You look almost too good to share with other people tonight, but since your mine I think I'll enjoy all the looks of admiration for my woman." With that parting line he stepped back and spun me around so that I could get a good look at him for the first time. He was wearing dress slacks with a flat front and a great button down shirt in a rich charcoal gray and he was sporting his diamond studs with his hair down. He was downright delectable and I unconsciously licked my lips in appreciation for my personal version of dessert.

"How do you like it?" he asked. Huh? How do I like what, is Carlos fishing for a compliment?

I smiled sassily then said, "You look ok."

"No, not me," he said with a smile that said get real I know I look good and with that he turned me towards the mirror in the foyer.

I couldn't believe it, apparently while assaulting my neck line he was also hooking a beautiful platinum necklace on me. I stepped forward looking at the necklace and my vision became very blurry because nestled in my collarbone was an exquisite diamond heart with wings protruding from the either side. I couldn't contain the few happy tears that trailed down my cheeks, "God Carlos… it's so beautiful… it's too much." With that I proceeded to begin to remove the necklace. I couldn't get any farther than getting my hands near the clasp before he grabbed my hands to still the action.

He was looking at me through the mirror with a serious expression on his face, while bringing my hands down to my waist and wrapped our joined hands around my middle he simply stated, "Keep it."

What's a girl to do, continue to protest or graciously and humbly agree? So, with a small smile of acceptance I turned in Carlos' arms and kissed him pulling back slightly and said, "Thanks."

**After that we made it** down to the garage for our drive to Rossini's. We were seated quickly in the back of the restaurant in a far corner so technically we both had our backs to the wall. We were seated very closely, our knees were touching and Carlos had his arm draped comfortably over the top of my chair. He ordered us a fabulous red to go with dinner and we placed our food orders before we really began to talk.

"You do know 90% of the restaurant is probably talking about us right now and the other 10% are thinking about talking about us, right?" I could feel a number of eyes on us the whole way back to our table and still had the creeping sensation even in our private alcove.

Carlos nodded his head a fraction in verification, "Do you want to give them a show for their efforts?" He gave me sinfully wicked smile while bending down to me and proceeded to give me a mouthwatering end of the world type kiss that transported me out of the restaurant and probably landed me in some unknown universe that revolves around Carlos and a bed 24 hours a day 365 days a year. It was never ending and all consuming, if the waiter hadn't brought our food I think I would have passed out from a lack of oxygen and never noticed. Carlos pulled back as the waiter was depositing our food but he kept his forehead against mine and whispered, "Do you think that was good enough to keep them enthralled for the rest of the night?"

I couldn't help but giggle, without Carlos having even touching me all night we would have had a captive audience with that kiss in motion we were sure to be the talk of the burg for at least a month alone. "Yeah I'm sure every single female in this restaurant is wondering how I'm not passed out at your feet from a kiss like that," Carlos gave me a very smug and self satisfied smile. "Don't look so smug Batman it's not an endearing quality," I ended with a sweet smile.

The rest of the meal went on without a hitch. The food was delicious as always and I tried very diligently to keep my moans of satisfaction to a minimum or at the very least to a low level. I ordered tiramisu for dessert while Carlos had black coffee. I actually convinced him to accept a few bites of my dessert but he seemed to enjoy tasting it off my lips more. After each bite I took he took a corresponding lick, kiss or nibble from my lips. The process was intoxicatingly enchanting, I could definitely get used to eating dessert like this. Carlos paid the bill and we were off into the night once again heading towards a club on the outskirts of Trenton. Carlos had told me during the dinner that the club tended to have a mix of Latin and normal club music. He even warned me that some of the guys from work may be in attendance since he had asked around about which was more favorable and a few had expressed interest in going out tonight also. I was so excited about going out dancing it had been far too long, the last chance at dancing I had was at Morelli's cousin's wedding and dancing was not in the cards for us that evening. But tonight I was going to get to see Carlos in action; I knew it would be a sight to behold.

**RPOV**

Steph was making it very hard for me all night to behave more like a gentleman and truly show her a good time. Starting from the moment I got home and saw her in her panties getting dressed. Ay Dios Mio! What that woman can do to me, just a single look at her gorgeous body and I want to fall at her feet and worship her beautiful temple. While at dinner I had to give a few hard stares to some of the men in the restaurant who were looking far too longingly at her for me to feel comfortable. I may like to show off a gorgeous woman on my arm but I still don't like anyone to getting too comfortable looking at her, she is mine. Getting through dessert was almost torturous but I still wanted to make sure she had a great time out dancing. I know she likes too because you can see her body begin to sway to the beat unconsciously when a great song comes on and I most definitely want to feel that sway up against me for the rest of the night.

As we entered the club I immediately scanned the area noting a few gang members and a couple of loan sharks but no one I was currently having an issue with or looking for. As part of my profession at the level I work at making enemies is easy so situations like a crowded club can sometimes be a dangerous situation, but I also noticed about 6 guys from RangeMan here too. I sauntered over to the booth and tables they were occupying to greet the men, some had women with them others were on the prowl. Steph and I decided to sit with them and have a few drinks before dancing. She began to sit in one of the empty seats but I quickly maneuvered her onto my lap instead, I wanted to make sure that no matter what all of my men understood what Steph was considered, OFF LIMITS!

Steph was leaning back into while chatting with the guys and I was using one hand to massage her hip and the other was resting along the back of the booth seat. I don't normally hang with many of my men outside of the core team of Tank, Bobby and Lester because it can become an issue for my command with some men if they don't view me as just the boss anymore. I hear all the times about them going out to this club or that but I'm never invited, it's always been fine with me but know just relaxing and enjoying the evening with them I realize that I have probably missed out on some fun nights. Hal actually managed to make me laugh a few times while talking about a takedown he did with Hector and going out to celebrate with him later than night. Apparently good ol' boy Hal didn't realize Hector was gay.

After about an hour of chatting and joking I leaned over and began placing kisses on that sweet spot that never fails to make Steph moan. I traced my tongue up to her ear and whispered, "You ready to dance?" She nodded her head yes so we got up to take to the dance floor.

Holy Mother of God! Steph was going to make me cum right here in my pants on the fucking dance floor, just like a 15 year old boy. I was right she can move her body so, so well on the dance floor and she knows exactly what she's doing, she's freaking hypnotizing. What surprised me the most was the fact that she actually knew the steps to the Latin dances, which was good and bad. Good because I love to dance like this, it's engrained in my blood and to have a partner that follows without question makes it so much easier to enjoy yourself. Bad because a lot of these dances are very intimate, especially the bachata which we were currently dancing, which is also currently the bane of my existence because it's giving so many naughty thoughts about what Steph and I should be doing in my bed right at this moment. It's well known that you can see how well someone is in bed by looking at their dancing technique and I can promise you that Steph's dancing definitely promises what she can deliver in the bedroom. I could sense Steph's arousal for me deepen and grow as the song continued we were staring straight into each other's eyes and I was sure she could tell how much I wanted her by the rock hard cock sitting against her stomach and the blackness of my overly dilated eyes. With my leg pressed between her thighs and her very wet pussy nestled high on my own I could tell she was getting close to having an orgasm right her on the dance floor and it was intensely sexy. Her body started to tremble so I bent down those few inches to say, "Babe cum for me right now in the middle of all these people. I want to feel you cum to this song dancing here with me," I could hear her moan to my words as her bodies tremble increased. I kept a firm hold on her and continued the sensuous movements that put us in this predicament. I heard her finally gasp out, "Carlos," as her entire body tighten and fell over the edge. When it was all over I crashed my mouth down onto hers and slipped my tongue into her mouth to caress and taste her delicate sweet mouth as she came down from her high. When I finally broke from the kiss I was panting heavily and I whispered desperately into her ear, "Babe you are so fucking sexy when you let go and cum especially here in the middle of everybody. I'm one lucky bastard to be able to take you home with me."

Steph's only answer was to lead me back to the booth with the other guys and sit me down so she could crawl up onto my lap again. We relaxed with the guys for a few songs before deciding to head back to Haywood since it was nearly 0245. I decided to pay for the open bottle service the guys had ordered in thanks for having a nice night out with them.

As we walked to the car I kept my hand on my Babe's lower back to help direct her through the lot. As we got closer to the Porsche I noticed a dark figure leaning against the passenger side door. I couldn't see the person very well so I automatically pulled my gun and disengaged the safety while simultaneously moving Steph behind me. This night was going so well and this is how it has to end, shit. I know Steph noticed the person also because she was gripping my hand like a vice, I gave her a gentle squeeze before pulling my hand away incase I needed to use it. The closer I got the more I recognized the figure standing before me. Really did he not remember the other day; or did he just have a death wish because I could certainly arrange a meeting.

"Morelli," I hissed through my teeth stopping a good 6 feet from him. I didn't want Steph close enough for him to grab.

**SPOV**

"Joe what are you doing here? Didn't we say it all last night?" _Do not hit the police officer, do not hit the police officer, do not hit the police officer_, no matter how much it would make you feel better. This became my new inner monologue not two seconds before it was _I'm gonna get a Carlos induced orgasm, I'm gonna get a Carlos induced orgasm_, now I'm seriously pissed Joe's messing with my ability to have one promptly.

"Cupcake, why are you doing this? You know how we work, we break up for a few weeks and then were suppose to get back together. Now your out here trying to prove a point to me that you can get another date but come on you don't need to go this far. You know he'll never be able to fit in with your family, or the burg, you'll just always be on the outside. With me your parents would be happy and the rest of the burg would stop talking about what a failure you are because you would finally do something right by marrying me. Come home the boys have missed you, I'll over look what you said yesterday and even tonight's little show that you were putting on for me but you need to stop this nonsense right now!"

_HUH?_ Seriously where does he get this bullshit, I was almost speechless from wrath and anger and a burning need to pop him with the Buick again. But my inner monologue was still coursing through me. _Do not hit the police officer, do not hit the police officer, do not hit the police officer, do not hit the police officer, do not hit the police officer, do not hit the police officer._

I said almost speechless, "Joe what the fuck are you talking about, seriously have you lost your fucking marbles. I can't believe your such a fucking dumb shit. I'm not doing this to prove a point to you solely I' m doing this because Ranger and I have danced around each other for years but because of the fucked up relationship we had I never pursued anything with him. You and I are done for good! This is the last time I'm saying shit to you on the subject. If you remember well there was a you and a me and sometimes we were together but there was never an us and there is no possibility of that ever happening. _Capisca_?" If that doesn't work maybe a swift knee of the balls will work; hmmm I wonder is that still considered assault?

"Yeah Babe it is," Ranger side whispered to me with a twitch of his lips.

"Damn ESP." I think I dumbfounded Morelli he still hadn't said anything back. I looked up at him and he was back into angry Italian male form neck and forehead vein buldging with a lovely shade of purple exposed all over his face. Oh yeah he was mad.

"Cupcake we need to talk. You and I are suppose to be together! All Ranger is doing is sticking his dick in what's easy and lets face it your pretty naïve. You think he actually wants you, read my lips he's using you to get his rocks off. He'll leave you soon enough and I won't be sitting around to take you back, maybe I'll tell you I told you so when the time comes."

I could see the tension rolling of Ranger in heavy degrees of aggression. I know he could seriously damage Joe and I wouldn't be able to stop him myself, probably only a few of the RangeMan guys could actually accomplish that job and they were inside after having a lot to drink so they would probably be no help at all. Ranger finally began to speak in that completely detached voice of his when he's beyond pissed off the one that makes most men want to curl up and hide behind their Mama's dress, "Detective Morelli I suggest you stop talking about Stephanie as the person your suppose to be with. You think I'll treat her like garbage, I actually took her out on a date so that I could show off how beautiful the woman who choose me was. I like to see her in beautiful things, going to great places and having fun, I don't expect you to understand that since you treated, as you call her, your "future wife" like she was nothing better than a fuck buddy. You fucked up and now she is Mine and I will protect what is mine with a vengeance that you have never seen or felt. If I hear you call her Cupcake again I will teach you what it means to piss blood. If you so much as talk to her without her instigating the discussion I will personally see to it that your jaw will no longer work properly without the use of nuts and bolts. Do you and I have an understanding Detective Morelli?"

"Are you threatening a cop Manoso?"

"No, Detective we're making a deal. You do as I instructed and I compromise by letting you walk away right now with no harm done. You don't and then we'll discuss the fees you'll have to pay for disobeying our deal." Then Ranger turned to me and held out his hand, which I immediately took.

I considered the man in front of me as Ranger because surely that was the image he was portraying at the moment, he was no longer Carlos the sweet man who bought be roses and a beautiful necklace he was the badass mercenary who the streets were afraid of. Judging by the pale white face of Morelli he realized who he was dealing with and he didn't feel up to the challenge, thank God maybe he would leave me the hell alone. As Ranger crept closer to Morelli he gave him one solid stare before Joe moved away from the car door to allow me in to get in. Finally seated within the Turbo I was able to let out a sigh of relief. Time to go home.

Once we were back in the apartment I decided to do something different for Carlos that I had never done before. I wanted to ease the tension that was evident in every muscle of his body since our encounter with Morelli; I wanted him to get back to the tension free happiness of when we were on the dance floor at the club. I silently grabbed his hand and led him into the bedroom once there I began to undress him.

I began by unbuttoning each button leaving a kiss on every new expanse of smooth mocha skin I saw. Carlos began to say something but I just pressed a quick kiss to his lips to silence him as I maneuvered my hands under the shirt on the top of his arms to gently glide the shirt from his arms, it hit the floor and then I moved him to where he was directly in front of the bed and I pushed on his shoulders telling him to sit. He obeyed nicely. I slipped my shoes off and then kneeled in front of Carlos to begin to unlace and remove his socks and shoes as well. When I was done I smiled up at the man sitting in front of me and pushed on his shoulders again to have him lie down on the bed. I moved up his body and began to unbutton and unzip his pants, I hooked my fingers in his belt loops and began to shimmy them down, he lifted his hips to allow me to maneuver the pants all the way off. Once fully undressed I stood at the edge of the bed and looked at the magnificent man again and I could barely contain the WOW that threatened to explode from my mouth, he was purely Adonis and he was mine to pamper.

"Roll over and put your head at the top of the edge and relax for minute I'll be right back," I told him.

While he did as I told I went into the closet and dressed into a pair of boxers and a tank top and then skipped into the bathroom for some baby oil that I had seen under the cabinets. After I came back out I lit one of the candles on the dresser and turned off the remaining lights.

I popped the cap on the oil and poured some in my hand rubbing it between both hands to warm it up some before beginning my massage at Carlos' sexy feet. I began on the left arch kneading and massaging all the tension away from the dancing we did, I moved up his leg to his calf, to his thighs and then repeating on his next leg. Once both legs were done I peeked a glance at Carlos and his eyes were closed and he had a small smile playing on his lips, it made me smile in relief that he seemed to be enjoying himself. Next I began kneading what I considered the best ass in Trenton, just touching his ass was making me warm in all the best places, I used some more oil and moved up to his lower back and then higher to his shoulders. I took my time on his shoulders because I know he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, Batman only had Gotham but Ranger had not only Trenton, Boston, Miami and Atlanta where different RangeMan's are located but also the rest of the world when it comes to his government jobs.

When I finished with his shoulders I leaned over and began whispering in his ear, "Thanks for everything tonight the flowers, the beautiful necklace, the great dinner, the great time dancing and especially for your words with Morelli. I know you didn't have to say all that you did but it was nice of you to try and defend me to him. Now roll over and let me finish showing you my appreciation."

He did as asked again but before he laid back he took my face in his hands and said, "I didn't just say it for him, I meant every word." And then he kissed me thoroughly before relaxing and closing his eyes again. I finished my massage by relaxing his arms all the way down to his finger tips, his gorgeous pectorals, and his beautifully mouthwatering abdominals. I skipped his beautifully erect penis and moved down his thighs, shins and back to his feet. I don't know how long the massage lasted but I could tell you Carlos was a big happy mush of jelly. When I was finished with his feet I crawled back up his body and began to give him the happy ending that would is illegal for massage parlors. At the first touch of my tongue on Carlos' slit the lick the glistening pre-cum I heard Carlos' deep intake of breath and he said, "Babe you don't have to…" he cut off pretty fast when I quickly swallowed as much of his cock as I could fit in my mouth in one fast move. I moved up and down and swished my tongue over the tip while I used one hand to wrap and pump over the area I couldn't fit in my mouth. I knew it wouldn't take long for him to cum since he'd been sportin' a hard on intermittently since last night. I was moving in a good rhythm and one of his involuntarily moved to grip my hair and his hips began to buck up to meet my thrusts of their own accord. I slipped my free hand down to massage and grab his balls to give him a little more to enjoy and to throw him over the edge. As his balls tightened and his body went ridged I relaxed my jaw more and swallowed his hot seed as it drenched the back of my throat, just the taste of him made me moan which seemed to make his orgasm last longer. I continued to suck and pump until I had swallowed every last drop. Ending with a pop I crawled back up to him and assaulted his mouth.

Carlos parted from the kiss breathing heavily saying, "God Babe that was amazing, your mouth is a marvelous machine and your fingers playing on my skin giving me that massage was fabulous. No one has ever done that for me before. No one has ever taken care of me the way you do. Thank you."

I said "Your welcome," with one last kiss before getting out of bed to strip into my nighttime attire, which according to Carlos was nothing at all. As I crawled back into bed with my Cuban he wrapped me in his arms and nuzzled my neck placing small kisses along my neck and jaw before I slipped into blissful sleep where visions of Carlos danced in my head.

**A/N Please excuse any errors I was rushing to get this out because it seemed to take me forever to write and I just wanted to be done with the chapter. Thanks for any and all reviews of the story. Enjoy! **


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I awoke the next morning to the smell of coffee and Carlos rubbing soft circles on my stomach with his thumb. I didn't want to acknowledge that I was awake because then we would have to move and start our day. So I tried to stay still and just let the feeling of contentment wash over me. When Vinnie was still missing Ranger and I had talked about the need to have to leave his bed at some point once I was in it again and he told me Yes that I would need to leave but being in this position I don't think I would ever willingly want to leave, except for maybe the bathroom. I knew he knew I was wake but neither of us seemed to want to really leave; he seemed happy with just holding me and I felt perfect just letting him. After an indeterminate amount of time I rolled over within Carlos' embrace and placed a kiss on his chest in greeting for the morning.

He smiled lazily while running his hands up and down my back, "Morning Babe, Ella brought breakfast you want to eat it in here?"

Ella breakfast in bed who could pass that up, "Sure, you want me to go get it?"

"No" he unwound his body from mine and walked his sexy ass out the door to the kitchen for breakfast. Yummy, I can tell you one thing I was definitely not just hungry for breakfast watching his muscles move as he walked, it's basically a form of foreplay to watch his muscles flex and the beauty of it was that he wasn't even trying. Not two minutes later did he return with breakfast on a tray and sat it down near me on the center of the bed.

He sat down against the headboard under the sheets with me and I scooted up next to him and brought the tray in front of me and began to pour our coffees. I handed him his black and proceeded to sweeten my coffee with milk and sugar. After a few sips I began to slather a bagel with minimal cream cheese and covered it with lox and handed it over to Carlos. He raised his eyebrow at me in question and I didn't understand what he was questioning.

"What," I said as I began to smother my own bagel with the cream cheese and then jelly that was also on the tray.

He just looked at me and shook his head and said, "Thanks Babe." I smiled sweetly but still didn't understand the eyebrow comment. Whatever.

We ate in companionable silence for a while and then I began to eat some of the fruit Ella had. It was really yummy, all summer fruit is, and there were sliced peaches, mangos, strawberries and cherries. I moaned in appreciation and offered Carlos a slice of peach with my fingers. He took the piece out of my fingers but not before he cleaned them of all their yummy fruit juices. The way his lips covered my fingers and the way his tongue slipped out to lick up a drop of peach juice as it ran down in between them made me moan in appreciation for what I know those lips and that tongue can do to me. Next he fed me a strawberry and cleaned a drop of juice that ran down my chin with his tongue and I thought back to the night before with dessert.

He might not know much about how to appreciate good food but he sure did know how to make eating all food much sexier probably even his twigs and bark would taste better. We proceeded to feed each other the fruit back and forth until we were both full.

After we were done eating I refilled my coffee and snuggled into Carlos' side to finish drinking, he on the other hand pulled out the paper and began reading through the stories on first the business, then world, and then national sections of the paper. When I was done with my coffee I put it back on the tray and snuggled closer and began to slip off to sleep until I realized this whole morning routine we just did seemed very odd not just because we'd never done anything like this but because Ranger never had a dull or unplanned moment in his life. He always had meetings and stakeouts or emergencies, the man had a business to run. But it was also odd because it felt like a glimpse at a life I had barely ever let myself dream about let alone think of as a tangible reality. So I snuggled in closer and let out a contented sigh and asked, "Carlos do you do this often, ya' know just relax in bed, eat breakfast and read the paper leisurely?"

"No"

"Do you wish you could more often? You're always so busy."

"Yeah it would be nice." Then he started to nuzzle and kiss along my neckline before saying, "I could get used to spending my weekends here in bed naked with you though, just like this."

"Not such a bad way to spend a weekend that's for sure. Do you have any plans for the day?"

"Not too much. I wanted to get into the gym and return some emails from while I was away. Plus I promised a lady some shopping time. Did you have anything planned?"

Since there was no more bonds office to meet up at Connie, Lula and I have been meeting at Pino's or some other dinner for lunch every Saturday no matter what. It was strange I use to take our time together to chat for granted but now that I don't see them everyday I miss them both terribly so our Saturday lunch dates have been really good for us to stay connected. "Yeah I have a standing lunch date with the girls at Pino's. You know since there's no more bonds office to gossip at. Then after lunch we can go to the mall and I was hoping on Sunday we could go to my parent's house for dinner? Please."

"Sure Babe."

Man of two word answers strikes again. It's strange he's talking more but still he's probably one of the quietest men I know, barring my Daddy of course I think my dad's word usage for the year equals Ranger's for the day.

We both lay in bed for a few more minutes before I finally dragged my ass out of bed for a shower to get ready for the day. I asked Carlos if he wanted to join me but he simply gave me a wolf grin and said, "Not this morning, I want to go to the gym."

I was a little sad about that because yesterday's shower was heavenly with him even if it did leave me frustrated as hell, watching water drip down his body was…just… just… mmmm it causes shivers just thinking about it. It makes me want to run my tongue over each section of his skin to taste the water coming off his body. Last night made me want to seriously figure out exactly what Ranger wanted from me because he said he wouldn't have actual physical sexual intercourse unless he knew for sure that I wanted him for him and not just because of the deal or for rebound I'm guessing. It seemed like last night with all the loving and being sweet and what he said to Morelli in the parking lot that he wanted something permanent which is exactly what I want but I still have to prove to him that it's what I want. Hmmm… maybe the girls can help me.

I quickly got out of the shower and dressed for the day. I decided to wear a simple pair of jean shorts and a tank top due to the Jersey weather that was beginning to swing into full affect. With minimal makeup and my hair in a pony tail I was out the door.

Before lunch I wanted to stop by my apartment to pick up a few clothing options that Ella didn't grab and I wanted my cookie jar. As I walked into my apartment it felt very lonely, there had always been very few personal items in my place because once you've been firebombed a few times you kind of get practical with what you own but now that there was basically nothing left in my apartment that screamed Stephanie the whole place felt bare. I walked around for awhile just staring at the apartment I've called home for over six years and I still couldn't figure out why I had never moved out of here. The place was grand central station for nutcases I had been held hostage and almost murdered here far too many times and seen two of my best friend almost die in this apartment. I've had a lot of good and bad memories in these walls but it's never been home just some place I could call my own and escape to. Maybe it's time for an upgrade.

**RPOV**

As I made my way down to the gym I was thinking about my morning with Steph. It was amazing. I couldn't believe I had actually just lain in bed with her and ate breakfast and read the newspaper like it was the most normal thing in the world. I guess for other people it would be but for me, not so much. I've never spent anytime just in bed with a woman except for Steph. Typically I would fuck and woman and leave as quickly as possible hoping she wouldn't remember my name the next day, but with Steph I had actually slept in bed and not had sex more times than I care to think about. All I really wanted last night was to bury myself inside of her but I was still waiting for her to make a move or some verbal indication that I was what she wanted on a permanent basis. This whole plan of waiting was quite torturous but I knew it would be worth it in the end.

When I walked into the gym I saw Tank on the mats and began loosening up to start sparing with him. I spent the next 45 minutes sparing and the next hour and a half running and lifting. It had been awhile since I got to the gym last and I felt more centered when I finally left.

I made my way up to seven to shower and change before going to the office to look through and respond to emails and voice messages. Some things needed my immediate attention but nothing was overly critical. I don't know how long I was sitting in my home office but suddenly I heard Steph yell, "Honey I'm home," in a sing song voice that made me smile. She's such a smart ass.

**SPOV**

I finally made over to Pino's and I was starving I don't know how Carlos keeps all those healthy muscles with so little to eat. I on the other hand need way more food with a lot more calories to tide me over. Connie and Lula were already waiting when I got there with a pitcher of Coke waiting for me to order actual food. Once our order for meatball subs, mozzarella sticks, wings and garlic knots was placed we began to catch up with one another. I let the girls tell me about their lives before I would to venture into life with Batman. They had started to ask me about it at first but I told them later because I wanted to collect my thoughts about what I wanted to tell them first.

Connie was dating a man who just started to work for her Family, ya know which kind of Family I'm talking about, and she wasn't sure about how comfortable she was with him because she's always kept herself on the outskirts of her Family connections. I told her she shouldn't worry so much about that aspect but just about the man he is with her and towards the family. I should know because if I thought about how most of the underbelly viewed Ranger I would never want to be with him. It's the man and his actions towards you and his friends and family that count.

Lula was telling us about how she thinks she's going to go to cosmetology school since she finished her college classes that let her finish her GED. Connie and I both enthusiastically encouraged her to pursue it. Lula may have a way with her own style, bright, tight and flashy, but girl could really bring it together for others in which ever style was needed.

So after eating most of our food and getting the skinny on what was going on in their lives it was my time to bite the bullet.

"So I know you girls are wondering about me and Ranger since I know it's been all over the burg since he got home about us."

"Damn right girl, you're just leaving us hanging out here to dry with no good information to pass along. I though we were tight, we should at least have a little insider information to pass out. Spill," said Lula. Yes, always straight and to the point with her.

Connie furthered Lula's argument by saying, "Yeah Steph aren't we close don't you think I at least deserve a little extra since I introduced you two in the first place." Oh yeah she was bringing out the big guns I had to roll my eyes at that one.

"I saw that white girl. Get to it," said Lula with a narrowed eyed gaze at me. Yup no more stalling.

"OK I was going to tell you all anyways. No need for threats." Where to begin, I didn't want to tell them about the deal I made but I did want their opinion on what I should do to help Carlos see I really did want just him. "Ok so Ranger and I are seeing each other." Insert squeals of delight here. "You have that out of your system now." Connie and Lula both nodded their heads emphatically for me to continue so I did. "The only problem seems to be Joe not understanding me when I told him that it's over, lets just say Ranger's not to happy about him showing up every single time we've been out in public together. I think he's still a little hesitant about me going back with Morelli since it's happened so many times. So I need you two to help me figure out a way to convince him that I want him and only him. Any ideas or plans that don't include sex?"

"We'll that ain't no fun if it can't include sex," said Lula

"Yeah we'll sexual tension was never an issue with us. I want him to know it's not just a random thought due to sex; I want him to know there's a thought out reason behind what I'm doing with him. You know planned out, or in his mind a mission." Plus I'm not allowed to have sex with him until I prove I want him, but I didn't need to tell them that.

"Yeah," Connie said, "Operation make Batman Mine."

"What made your relationship with the Supercop not work?" asked Lula.

"We'll that's easy he didn't trust me or want me the way I am now. Neither of which are a problem with Ranger."

"You know you always ran from Morelli when things went bad. You'd move in and out of that mans house at a land record speed. That didn't show commitment to me," Connie stated. Damn she was right, I did move in and out more times than I could count. I always kept my apartment because I always assumed I would need it again. In the back of my mind I knew I would leave Morelli's house again.

Lula butted into my inner musing by saying, "That's true white girl in n' out was your way with him. Maybe you should move in with Ranger permanently that spells commitment to me. Plus then think about how often you could see him NAKED."

"What if he doesn't want me to stay with him that long, right now he has me living at his place but what if he gets bored or I get cranky. Then I'll have no where to go." That was my biggest fear, when I left The Dick I had nothing to my name but just a few things I desperately fought for in our divorce and a crappy car. Dick got the house so I was left with having to hunt for a new place and set up my life all over again. Giving up that kind of power was hard with a marriage certificate involved but with just a word commitment of you're my girlfriend move in with me, that involves an even larger dose of trust and relinquished power. But could I do it with Carlos we haven't exactly talked about everything, it seems so strange that this all started not even two days ago as almost a joke but now here I am deciding if I want to give up independence of my own apartment to live with Carlos. Strange twilight universe here I come.

Connie as the voice of reason said, "Didn't you already say trust was one of the things you already had with Ranger so why is it such a big deal to trust him to take care of you. You two have danced around each other for years. You trust him with your life, since he's saved it more times than there are Godfather movies so come on I think you should try and do this. Nothing else will spell commitment to him then this."

"Yeah, especially since you would never do that with Morelli. He'll see it as something you do for him first. Since Morelli got to have you first when he popped you're cherry, and he got to date you first too. It just might be the perfect thing to do," Lula finished mighty proud of herself for her revelations.

Hot Damn I think their both right. Maybe I should go talk to Dillion before I go back to Haywood about my lease. After our talk the girls and I split and promised to do lunch next week again but at a Greek deli down the street. I decided to talk to Dillion about my lease before heading back to see Carlos for shopping.

I got a copy of my lease from Dillion and headed back to Haywood by 1:15. I still had plenty of time to go shopping for my new business attire. I'm so excited to actually get to buy fancy clothes again; catching skips pretty much guaranteed I only wore jeans and a t-shirt with boots. Now I'll get to dress up more often. Wonder if I have to stick to all black all the time.

As I entered our apartment I called out just to be a smart ass, "Honey I'm home."

**RPOV**

I yelled out, "Smart ass! I'm in here."

I really don't like to go shopping but to watch Steph try on clothes is bound to be a great experience. She popped her head in the office and said with a bright smile, "You ready to take me shopping boss?"

I could just shake my head, "Yeah Babe give me a minute to shut down."

By the time we got to the mall my Babe was dancing in her seat like she'd never been shopping before and she probably hadn't been with the what I had set up for her. I had Ella call ahead to have a personal shopper pick out appropriate work attire for her with accessories and shoes. I know she likes to shop but I figured this would make my life easier since I was going with her. As we were walking hand and hand into the mall Steph turned to me and asked, "Do I have to where all black for these client meetings?"

Ahh I knew she would ask this eventually, "The main aspect of the outfit needs to be black but I figure you could have colorful tops to go with everything. Does that work?"

"Yup" I slung my arm around her shoulder after ushering her though the door.

Steph began to guide me towards the women's section where all the dresses and suits were but I pulled her back and asked, "Do you trust me?"

"Absolutely Batman." Sometimes I really wonder why she's always trusted me. I know why she does now because we've been together through some serious shit but she trusted me enough to call me while she was handcuffed naked to a shower rod after having met me only a few days before.

I guided her to the back of the store where the personal shopper dressing room is located and we were met with a petite blonde with the largest set of fake boobs I've seen in a long time. As she walked over to introduce herself I thought she was going to fall forward from the weight of her boobs.

"Hello, my name is Bambi; I'll be servicing you today. You're Mr. Manoso correct?"

"Yes, this is Ms. Plum. She's the one you'll actually be servicing today." I really couldn't help the smile that spread across my face. She sounded just like Minnie Mouse and with the way she was looking at me while talking about servicing me god I wanted to laugh. Women are too funny.

Finally she turned her attention to Steph and started motioning her towards the large dressing area that was set up. Before she walked away Steph elbowed my side and said, "Behave," with a large smile and a shake of her head.

I had informed the store that I expected to see every outfit that was tried on so I got comfy in one of the large wingback chairs near the three way mirror and waited for Steph while completing more emails on my blackberry. I had to smile when I heard a squeal of delight come from dressing area, I could just imagine her dancing up and down while clapping her hands.

I heard the door open so I put down my phone and waited for Steph to come out in her first outfit. She looked so beautiful, "You're gorgeous Steph." I got up and approached her while she turned toward the mirror.

"Thanks, this whole personal shopper thing is really nice Carlos. I can't believe you set this all up for me." I had her wrapped in my arms while we were looking at her first outfit.

"You're worth so much Steph. I would do whatever it takes to make sure you are happy. No price." And I meant it every word. I've spent every year since I was thirteen working hard even when I was getting into trouble out on the streets I was still working a legit job too. All this work through the years and I've had very little to spend my money on. Julie has enough in a trust she wouldn't need to work if she didn't want to, my parents say they don't need anything and I've only collected a few great cars and a couple of houses. I have money enough to spoil the one person who would never ask for a penny from me, and I plan on doing it a lot.

After she decided she liked the suit the tailor came out and pinned what needed to be shortened and taken in then she bounced off to try on more. This was the pattern for hours. I thought the personal shopper would make it easier; I don't know after the first three hours came and went I was done with all my emails and I was working out what I wanted to do with Steph for her first week as a manager. I didn't tell her that her new job description came with a lot more power, money and a cut of ownership for the RangeMan Trenton office because she would have flat out denied me by saying that it was a pity job. She's always undervaluing her self.

After going through a few outfits I could tell her mood had changed and she didn't look as happy anymore. I asked, "What's wrong Babe?"

"Nothing, it's just going to be so hard to pick which outfits I'll buy."

"Babe when I said no price I meant it. I'm buying whatever it is you like."

She gasped and turned around at that, I think I hit a nerve, "Carlos you can't buy me all these clothes. What will people think? I can't let you buy everything, I can buy my own clothes, ya' know? I don't want to be a kept woman, just because were…." She didn't seem to have a word for what she and I were together well I never was into labels but I'll have to set her straight about that later, "doing whatever it is were doing." At the end of her little tirade she crossed her arms and gave me what she calls her burg death glare. I personally think it's cute that she's trying to intimidate me but I wouldn't dare tell her that.

I calmly explained to her, "Babe these clothes are for work therefore I'm buying them. I'm the boss." At that I swatted her on the ass and pushed her towards the dressing room for more outfit changing. She sent me another glare but I know I saw a smile spread across her face as she was turning around. Her mood the rest of the trip was upbeat so I sensed that she was ok with me buying her the clothes.

All the outfits she chose were gorgeous on her. Most of the clothes were coming home with us but a few had to be tailored so I had it set up to send to Haywood when completed. By the time she was done trying on and picking her share of business clothes it was almost 1800 hours and we decided to catch dinner out. We headed over to a diner down the street that we had been to before during the Cone brother fiasco.

Once we headed home I could tell Steph was tired because she passed out before we even got out of the parking lot. I couldn't help but shake my head at that, she could fall asleep anywhere. I gently lifted my Babe in my arms to take her up to the apartment.

She woke while walking to the elevator, "I'm wake you can put me down."

I said, "No" and tightened my arms around her.

"Well then…"she said and she wrapped her arms around my neck and started kissing up my neck and jaw line. Once we were in the apartment she really began to suck and bite on my neck producing a deep growl that emanate from my throat. After she finished she kissed the area again and brought her lips up to mine in a fierce kiss that told me she was definitely not so tired anymore. I slowly let her down from my embrace so that she was standing in front of me before we finally broke from the bruising kiss. Yeah ferocious and sexy as hell Babe was still in the building. As we rested our foreheads together I felt Steph giving herself a mental prep talk, there always fun to watch because she kind of shakes her head around and mumbles or just moves her lips with no words. She never notices when she does it but that's how I typically can ESP her as she calls it because I simply read her lips to figure out what's going on in her head.

She looked up at me suddenly with determination shinning in her eyes and said, "We need to talk."

Oh shit!

**SPOV**

I led Carlos over to the couch while repeating my newest mental mantra of _you can do it, you can do it, you can do it_ just be honest, over and over again. I pushed him down on the couch and grabbed my lease out of my bag before sitting down on the couch next to him. While I was fingering the lease I cleared my throat before I started to speak, "Carlos I don't know what's really happening between us in a classical sense of the word because lets face it our relationship has been indefinable since we met. It just seems like what started out as you helping me for a playful amount of revenge quickly turned into something a lot more serious. And personally I like where this all seems to be going, you've maintained a non-relationship material rule with me for years yet we still very much have had one; so I'm going to consider it a moot point." I stopped to collect my thought about how to respond when Carlos said, "Babe…" I cut him off quickly by putting my hands over his mouth.

"Let me finish then you can speak." He nodded so I continued. "You asked for two things before we went any farther physically and to tell you the truth that shocked the shit out of me because for the most part I always thought you just wanted a few rolls in the sack with me but by putting a stop to the actual intercourse part it really showed me that you were more interested in me accepting you then just sex. I really appreciate that. Plus you got me beautiful roses, a gorgeous necklace and the best date ever and it all made me really happy. I've never had that before."

I had to take a quick cleansing breath before I continued this was the truly scary part of the talk I wanted to have Carlos. "I know you've said you love me multiple times in different ways but I've never returned the sentiment and I want to rectify that now." I locked eyes with Carlos and stated with a sense of calm and understanding I had never sensed with Joe I said, "Ricardo Carlos Ranger Batman The Wizard Manoso I love you, have for a long time. It seems like I never really had a chance to properly say it to you because I was always linked with Morelli in some way and it never seemed fair to say it to you when I was with him. But he is completely in my past now and there are no guilt barriers blocking me from telling you so I just wanted to let you know. Also, you have no reason to worry about me ever going back to him, not even for a friendship at this point." I gazed over at Carlos to see how he was taking this all in and I was glad he still seemed at ease and like he wasn't about to bolt. Ok next phase.

"So your two conditions were before we could join together for reals was that I constantly think about what I wanted you to do to me and let me tell you that hasn't been a problem. All I've been able to think about or dream about for the past few days is you. Your mouth, your tongue, your fingers, your cock. I've been wet for days just waiting for the moment you can fill me again. But truth be told, since I seem to be spilling my guts, is that I've dreamt about you for years, ever since our first time together I dream about you and the way you make me feel. So that wasn't a problem, mission accomplished there. The second was for me to prove that I wanted you for you I wasn't so sure how to do that besides giving you this." I handed over my lease and waited for him to open it, he raised an eyebrow in question before I continued, "I figure I would give you something I never did Joe. I'm giving you the lease to my apartment. You have me living here with you now, if you don't want that to continue I can move back. If you do, you can choose to keep my apartment and I can move back when you get tired of me or if we have problems. Or you can choose for me to get rid of it. I always kept my apartment with Joe because I knew I would always need to go and escape to it when things would eventually not work out. So I'm giving you the power of a seriously permanent commitment by giving you the right to terminate my lease for me. I already talked to Dillion and he knows that your authorized to take care of it, if not I'll continue to pay on it there's only a few months left on this lease so it all rests in your hands."

Now I had to wait and not hyperventilate while he tells me his answer. I got up and grabbed a couple of bottles of water out of the fridge and handed one to Carlos and began to sit back where I sat originally but suddenly I felt Carlos grab my hand drag me down on to his lap. Ok, that's a good sign it's hard for him to dart away if I'm sitting on top of him.

"Not to sound like a cliché from a movie but… you had me at I love you. To hear you say those words is beyond what I could have imagined. Every time I said I love you I knew you wouldn't or couldn't say it back to me yet even though I've always know the truth, that you did or do love me. But to hear you say it… it gave me a sense of calm a feeling of rightness. A man like me Steph isn't given much love in this world. I was born into a rough neighborhood where I learned to fight, got into gangs, and then finally the military is where I learned to be who it is I am today. But none of these things have given me any hope in my life of finding a woman who could get past everything I've done and really love me. Even my own family is weary of who I am, when your own mother can't fully love you because she's afraid of what you've done or what your capable of it's a hard pill to swallow. I've known you could but I didn't let you because I was worried about what you being in my life could bring to yours. But now I don't care, all my reasons and excuses mean nothing as long as I get to keep you."

WOW… can you say speechless. My brain was frozen from what could possibly be the most awesome speech I've ever heard.

"Oh yeah and Babe I love you too. More than anything, or anyone. You've been my life since you walked in and changed mine that day at the diner," and then he smiled with his full on 200 watts of extraordinary beauty and kissed the crap out of me.

Ok if I thought I was speechless before I think I just reached new levels of speechlessness! HOLY CROW! Batman loves me! And then my happy tears began to flow down my cheeks while we were still kissing. I know he realized I was crying once I started to taste the saltiness between our kiss as well.

He pulled back and looked at me with a furrowed brow and asked, "Babe?" I know back to one word questions again but I know what he wanted to hear.

"Just happy tears Carlos, I was just so overwhelmed with emotions that's all." Carlos began to kiss the tear tracks from my face and used his tongue to clean up one tear that slipped away and that's was all it took for the sappiness of the moment to turn into all out consuming passion. This passionate electricity that has always been between us never fades or goes away its always there just under the surface just waiting to be allowed free and thank God we had both finished talking because I knew from this point forward for many hours there would be very little talking done between us now.

Carlos began placing kisses all along my face and neck and collarbone before finally assaulting my lips in a punishing kiss that spoke of lust, passion and love that had been held captive far too long. We were both just lips, tongues and teeth with pawing hands. I couldn't get myself close enough; I couldn't touch enough of his skin for my liking. I broke from the kiss to find the hem of his shirt better and pull it off while Carlos pulled down my tank top and began to assault my nipples like he had never tasted anything so good in his entire life and he wasn't being gentle about it. I had finally gotten his shirt almost all the way off when he bite down on one of my nipples causing a tiny shriek of surprised pain and pleasure to course through my body, I replied in kind by biting and sucking the trap muscle that runs the length of his beautiful shoulders marking my man and making him grunt in response. When I broke from the bite I finished pulling the shirt over his head while he did the same with my tank. He immediately began torturing my nipples again with his hands, mouth and teeth I used his hair to yank his mouth away from his bruising assault to bring his mouth back to mine where our tongues battled for dominance. Sometime during our kiss Carlos re-arranged us so that he was hovering above me on the couch using his free hand, the one not still locked in my hair, to unbutton and unzip my shorts. I realized he had divested me of the rest of my clothing when I felt his warm long fingers begin to part my lips. In one quick thrust he had two fingers inside of me pounding directly with my G spot it only took him a few thrusts before my whole body started to shake and I gasped in surprise at the quickness and strength of my first orgasm. I knew I was ridiculously aroused still because Carlos wasn't letting up; he was playing with my body, working it into a frenzy leaving me wanting and needing more. I wouldn't feel complete or sated until he was finally in me. While he was working his way down my body stopping at strategic spots to kiss and suck and bite my overly sensitized flesh I said, "Carlos I need you now."

I could feel his smile form on my right hip, "Where do you need me Quierda?" while he began to run his tongue along the inside of edge of where I wanted him the most. I spread my legs for him farther and said, "Here" while using my own hands to touch and circle my clit eliciting a groan of anticipation from both of us. That was all it took Carlos moved my hand away and began to use both of his and his mouth to bring me sweet pleasure. I couldn't stop the squirming I was doing, I couldn't hold in the rocking motion of my hips as he continually thrust his tongue in me to taste and tease me about what his cock would be doing soon. When his fingers slipped back in between my folds and his tongue latched onto my clit I was washed away in the feelings of extreme pleasure that he could only make me feel I called out, "Carlos," and gripped his hair tightly while I came back down.

Before the aftershocks could finish he was poised above me looking me in my eyes and said, "I love you" while he entered me in one slow thrust. He waited for me to adjust to being filled by his perfection before really starting to move. Carlos started slow at first but quickly changed his tactics when I dug my nails into his back and ass and told him, "Fuck me hard and fast Carlos, I know that's what you want." So he did, the moment it left my mouth something snapped and he was pounding into me roughly like primal animals. The feeling of mating bodies and the sound of skin on skin could be heard along with our pants and moans of pleasure. My first orgasm didn't come slowly it was fast and hard and had me digging my nails into Carlos' back which seemed to increase his thrust speed even more while making him growl in appreciation. I could feel his end coming because his thrusts were shorter and fast and then suddenly I could feel his cock twitch inside of me while his seed shot into me causing another orgasm to constrict and milk his cock for everything it had.

We just laid connected on the couch for awhile recovering our breathing. I for one couldn't have talked or walked even if my life depended on it so I was happy to just have Carlos lying right on top of me. After sometime passed Carlos finally spoke and said, "Come Babe lets go to the bedroom."

I could barely move and he seemed to realize my dilemma so with a smug smile of satisfaction for rendering his woman temporarily paralyzed he picked me up and carried me into our bedroom.

The rest of the night consisted of love making with bits of sleep packed in. There wasn't much talking just some I love you's and bedroom talk of what we each wanted. Neither of us really felt fully sated and ready for real sleep until well into the morning light when finally a deep sleep claimed us both.

**RPOV**

To say I woke up happy this afternoon would be a gross understatement. I couldn't keep the ridiculous smile off my face while I watched Steph sleeping on top of me. We've woken these last few mornings always touching in some way. After all night and most of the morning making love she was now softly snoring while laying on my chest with her arms tucked under my back, our legs twisted together and my arms resting along her lower back and ass. I've never been a man who prays much but at this moment I couldn't feel happier so I said a silent thanks to whomever deemed me worth to actually have my babe in my life in a real and committed way. I must have laid in bed just watching and thinking about Steph for hours. When she finally started to stir it was almost 1400 hours and I knew she would be getting hungry. I lifted the phone and dialed Ella to bring her lunch up in thirty minutes. I started to shake Steph and running my fingers up and down her bare back while whispering, "Babe, Babe it's time to wake up."

Like most mornings she just swatted in the area of my voice willing whatever it was waking her to go away. I started to laugh which seemed to be enough to wake her up some more. She peeked one eye open and then the other when she noticed me waking her. She smiled before saying, "Wow Batman if you keep smiling like that and I don't thing your reputation will last too long. It makes you look too pretty to be a bad ass."

I quickly slammed my blank face down and said, "Smart ass," before smiling again before beginning to tickle her causing her to squirm and laugh trying to get away. All the squirming her naked body was giving me wonderfully wicked thoughts so I had her pinned underneath me within a few minutes. The mood, like the night before, changed fairly fast because instead of trying to get away from me she wrapped her legs around me and nudged her center to meet my morning wood. We made love again while our eyes were locked on each other, the depth of love reflected in her eyes made me want to stay right here in this bed in this position for as long as possible. I meant what I told her the night before I truly never thought I would be allowed this kind of love in my life but here it was beneath me letting me be exactly who I truly I am without having to hold back. It was humbling.

After laying around for a few minutes we finally separated. I told her Ella would be up quickly with a late lunch so we should get dressed before leaving the bedroom to eat.

After we finished pulling on some sweats and shirts we headed out to the kitchen to see Ella had prepared Chicken sandwiches with sweet potato fries and a salad for us. I knew Steph was starving because her beast was waking up and making a lot of noise, it always amazed me that someone so little could eat so much and her stomach could make so much noise.

My Babe seemed pensive all through lunch so I asked her quietly, "Babe what's wrong you seem preoccupied?"

"Nothing really I'm just worried about dinner tonight I'm not quite sure how my parents are going to respond to you now that they know we've been seen all over the burg together. I don't want you to worry about them because it doesn't really matter I just don't want to hear it from my mom." She gave me a sad little smile, but I could see she wasn't that sure of herself and she was still nervous about the crap her mom was going to give her. There was nothing I could say to make it better but just be there for her, which is exactly what I plan to do for the rest of the time were given.

I lifted her and out of her chair into a fierce of hug meant to offer her support and love. I held her for a little while and then I looked down and her and said, "Babe lets go take a shower, I'm good in the shower," while I gave her my wolf grin.

She giggled and smiled which is the exact response I was hoping for. We spent the next hour in the shower showing each other how much we loved each other before finally getting clean and getting out and ready for dinner at the Plums.

As Steph would say Oh Boy!

**A/N I hope you enjoyed this chapter sorry it's so long but I had a lot to fit in. Reviews and comments are always welcomed! Thanks**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Oh my goodness! I can't believe I'm sitting in my favorite car, with my favorite person and we are driving to my least favorite place on the planet, well at least at the moment I can't think of anywhere worse to bring my new boyfriend. Holy crap, Ranger's my new BOYFRIEND, that word sounds so strange in connection to the man I've known all these years! I honestly don't know how my Mom and Dad are going to react to Carlos, I know Grandma Mazur is going to love it since she's always loved Carlos' package, and I can tell you it's my favorite package too. But just thinking about what can possibly go wrong has me feeling light headed, oh god Carlos is going to run when he has to deal with my crazy family and well at least I got a dozen spectacular orgasms out of our first weekend together.

Oh shit!

We just pulled up to the house and my Mom and Grandma are both there waiting for us to exit the car, I turned to Carlos and said, "You know I love you and no matter what they say or what happens I want to be with you and I hope you don't run away after tonight." Then I swiftly bent over the center console and kissed him with as much passion and love that I could conjure while I knew my mom was standing just 15 feet away from us. Maybe I seemed a bit panicked which I rightfully admit I was, this night had disaster written all over it and my body was humming with my nervous energy.

Carlos took a hold of my face and demanded, "Look at me," I did as asked then he continued, "There is nothing your family can say or do that would make me run from you, I just hope you don't run when you get to meet my family. Deal?"

"Deal!" With that Carlos swiftly exited the car and made his way over to my side to hand me out of the Porsche. He kept a hold of my hand as we made our way up the driveway rubbing soft comforting circles on my hand, I felt myself begin to relax into the side of his body when we reached my Mom.

All that comfort, reassurance and relaxation I had just begun to feel dissipated the moment I looked at my Mom's face. She wore a mask laced with insincerity, rejection and down right disgust as she took in the way our bodies were molded to together in comfort and familiarity. I squeaked out, "Hi Mom, Grandma, you two remember Ranger?"

"Yes of course Stephanie, how are you this evening Ranger? Are you acting as a bodyguard again, has Stephanie found more trouble to get herself into?" replied my Mom with a chiding tone to her voice.

"No, Mrs. Plum Steph hasn't been in any trouble in a few weeks especially since she began working for me again. But please I insist on you calling me Ric, that's what my family calls me," Carlos finished his reply with one of his, all too familiar to me, 200 watt smiles. I know he was laying on the charm fairly thick for my Mom hoping he could gain some footing with her and it seemed to work shortly while my Mom had that stunned expression that seems to creep onto every woman's face when they get to see the pure beauty that is Carlos when he smiles. But the moment was shattered when I heard Val's minivan pull in behind us and the girls began to scream, "Aunt Stephie, Aunt Stephie."

I turned to my two nieces and gave them both huge hugs and kisses. Just what this evening needed the entire Plum and Kloughn household together tonight, perfect. I felt myself sigh, well at least there's hope for Albert to catch the table on fire and distract the attention from Carlos and I.

Eventually we all settled into the house and I introduced Ric to my Dad again. I made a mental note to myself to ask Carlos, Ric or Ranger exactly how many other names he was know as and when each was appropriate because I wasn't quite sure of the rules for all the names. As I was helping Mom set the table with food I heard the door bell and Mary Alice scream, "I'll get it." And all the false feelings of normalcy that had begun to seep into my family dinner dissipated as a huge feeling of dread settled into the pit of my stomach as the one voice I did not want to hear tonight echoed through my parents house.

"Hey Mary, what's going on?"

"Nothing much, Mr. Ric was talking to me about the horses' he's been on before." I could hear her excitement over talking to Carlos about her love for horses and it made me smile to know he was trying to get to know my nieces better. But I was also holding my breath for the next question that was bound to exit his mouth, since they were still in the foyer and couldn't see Carlos in the living room.

"Whose Mr. Ric is that your Grandma Mazur's new boyfriend?" and there it was like he didn't know Carlos' car was parked out front of the house or maybe he was so dense that he thought I would come by myself. I finally realized I had frozen in the same position since the doorbell rang with the mashed potatoes hanging in the air a few inches from the table. I sat the bowl down and began to walk towards the kitchen to have words with my Mother.

**RPOV**

I can't fucking believe that Morelli had the balls to show up at her parents house for dinner the night after we had our little talk. He must be the densest Motherfucker I've ever met. But it did make me smile a little that Mary Alice seemed so happy to talk to me about horses. I made a mental note to ask Steph if she wanted to take the girls to a horse ranch a few miles outside of the city for some riding; from the way Mary was eating up what I was saying I knew she had never had the luxury to actually meet or ride her most beloved animal. I could even see Angie listening in on our conversation, no matter how hard she tried to look disinterested in the subject.

I heard Joe ask Mary who Mr. Ric was and I couldn't help shaking my head as the little girl said, "He's the beef cake with the great package, that's what Grandma Mazur said." With that comment hanging out in the open Morelli walked around the corner of the foyer into the living room and I carefully schooled my face blank as he took in the scene of me sitting on the couch with Angie to my left and Grandma Mazur on the smaller couch also to my left with Mr. Plum in his usual recliner. Morelli's face was calm but I saw his jaw clenching and knew he wasn't nearly as in control as he'd like everyone to think he was. As soon as Mary was back in the room she raced to me and sat down to my right again and began with her inquisition about the horses I had rode. With one last cool look at Morelli I changed my facial features to be softer and open while talking and responding to Mary Alice. I saw him out of the corner of my eye sit on the only available seat left next to Grandma Mazur. He deserved having to deal with her wandering hands and I had a silent mental chuckle to myself about how uncomfortable he was.

I was surpised that 10 minutes later we still weren't seated for dinner and I knew Mr. Plum was shocked as well because he kept looking up at the clock to gauge how late dinner was. It was only 5 minutes past 0600 but I knew how crazy Steph's Mom got about having dinner exactly ready at 0600 on the dot, with military precision every night.

I said to Mary Alice and Angie who finally joined into our conversation, "I'm going to go check on dinner, you girls stay here," with that I got up and walked towards the kitchen knowing what I was going to find wouldn't be good.

**SPOV**

As I made my way into the kitchen I was trying to get my temper under control because I didn't want to yell at my Mom no matter how horrible she was behaving. I watched her plating up the pot roast for a few minutes while I counted in my head. I had counted to 563 before I felt I was able to talk to my Mom in a civil manner. "Mom, why did you invite Joe to dinner? Last time he was here I turned around and left; is that what you would like me to do, again?" That sounded nice and adult and reasonable, good job me.

"Of course not Stephanie, don't be so dramatic. I simply invited him for dinner again because he's a good man, great company, and he always has things to say for dinner conversation. Plus I know you needed a way to get him back into your life again so I decided to make it easier for you by inviting him here. It's as simple as you sitting next to him at dinner and making small talk and you two will be right as rain Stephanie. I know he loves you and wants you back; you just have to let him take you home and say you're sorry." My Mother I now realized is the queen of denial, I thought I was, nope that would be her rightful title. I just shook my head in exasperation.

"Mom I'm going to say this to you one time so listen carefully I am with Ric now, most likely for good. I will never, let me repeat, NEVER get back together with Joe. He and I don't work. Ric and I do, you need to accept that. I'll stay for dinner this one time but if he's ever here for dinner again or if you bring up getting back together with him again Ric and I will turn around and leave and we won't come back again until you apologize. Do you understand Mom?" I had known Carlos had entered the kitchen when I started my little speech but at the end he came up behind me and wrap me in his arms and nuzzled my neck. He said just quietly enough for me to hear, "Proud of you Babe." Yup I made the right choice with this man.

He lifted his head out of my hair and looked right at my Mom and said, "Mrs. Plum, was wondering when dinner would be served?"

My Mom looked aghast as she noticed that dinner was 6 whole minutes late. She quickly shoved two more bowls in my hands and turned to pick up the pot roast while yelling to the living room, "Dinner's ready," and scurrying out to the dinning room table. I quickly followed after her and set the food down in the center.

Carlos held out my chair and waited for me to sit before taking his seat to my right. The table was beyond full so Valerie made a plate for the girls and set them down in the living room under a blanket so as to not mess up the carpet. My Dad was to my left, Carlos to my right and Albert to his right. Joe was directly in front of me looking pained at the thought of sitting across from us with Grandma Mazur to his left, and Valeria to her left with Mom at the very end opposite my Dad. Baby Lisa was in her high chair between mom and Val. Yup the table was beyond full with my family, my boyfriend and my ex. Luckily Grandma Mazur didn't invite any new boyfriends over tonight.

We all began to pass the food around and I began to relax while eating the comforting food of my childhood. My Mom began the dinner conversation by saying, "So Joe have any interesting stories about cases that you're working on?" I rolled my eyes at my Mom's effort to show him in a positive light as someone who had a great job and a good conversationalist. She barely ever made dinner conversation with Joe when we were together so I thought it was pretty funny that she was trying so hard now.

"Mrs. Plum I've had a lot of cases open lately do to a strong upsurge of violence over on Stark Street but you know how it is. I don't like to bring that kind of ugliness into my life after work. This is a really great pot roast you did an excellent job."

With that comment everyone at the table made affirmative noises about dinner. I could feel Joe staring at me throughout dinner and it was starting to make me stiff and uncomfortable again. Carlos picked up on my unease while Grandma Mazur was talking about what the girls at the Clip N' Curl were gossiping about so he leaned over to whisper directly in my ear what he had planned for my body when we got home. Let's just say I bit my lip hard enough to break skin and cause a little blood to seep out to keep from moaning at the dinner table. His suggestion of using some handcuffs and a riding crop had me instantly wet and fidgety in my seat trying to release the friction I felt building right where I wanted Carlos the most. He gave me a very self satisfied smile as he realized how much I needed what he suggested.

Dinner was luckily moving quickly Joe kept staring at me almost willing me to make conversation with him. I knew Carlos would keep his word of seriously hurting Joe if he talked to me without my initiation of the conversation and it seemed Joe understood this too.

Carlos draped his arm across the back of my chair and he had inched his chair closer to mine so that our bodies were hovering next to each other with our knees touching under the table. His left hand was skimming my shoulder and clavical in a rhythmic motion that allowed me to relax despite the circumstances of the evening. I was starting to think I was going to get away from this evening relatively unscathed, maybe I didn't have so much to worry about.

Boy was I wrong.

"So Stephanie how long have you and Ric been dating, since you've been living with him?" said my wonderfully crazy Grandma Mazur.

"Ummmm…." I couldn't think of a proper response to her so Carlos filled her in.

"We've known each other for years as you know Mrs. Mazur and we decided we should live at Haywood together because both our lives are so busy it just makes more sense. We want to be able to spend as much time together as possible and since it's taken us so long to be able to come together we would like to make sure we don't waste any more time. We would like to keep our relationship information as private as possible so I hope you can curb yourself from discussing us around town." Awwweee how sweet he's trying to keep us private, so isn't going to happen but it was a good try.

"Yeah Grandma we just want to make sure we can see each other every day, with the way our lives can be sometimes if we didn't live together we could go weeks without being able to spend any time as a couple. This situation seemed the best for us," I wanted to make it clear that we had discussed this living situation like adults, which we didn't but hey they didn't need to know that. If they knew our living situation began with me presenting myself as Carlos' little sex slave I don't think they would be very happy with our relationship.

I chanced a glance at Morelli and he was about to blow a freaking blood vessel. He seemed about ready to pop on the same level as Mt. St. Helen that can only mean one thing he's going to speak and it's not going to be pretty. Then he stunned us all by breaking out a huge smile and he started to laugh, huh not what I expected.

"Yeah, ok, good luck with that. She'll move in now but she'll forget to buy bread and then when you mention it she'll get upset at you and leave. She's moved in and out of my house more times than I can count, it doesn't mean anything," with his peace said Joe began to laugh again but it died on his lips with Carlos' next words.

"Yeah but she's giving up her apartment to come live with me and she doesn't have to worry about buying bread, Ella does that for us." You could just hear the pride in Carlos' voice for being able to say that things are different between us compared to Joe and I, you could almost hear Carlos say "so take that," with his tone.

Joe quickly stood up from his chair and stood still clenching and unclenching his fists taking slow measured breaths. Carlos and Joe were so different when it came to their demeanors at the moment it was almost comical. You could practically see the steam rising out of Joe's ears but Carlos was still seated next to me with his arm casually draped over my chair with a peaceful look of serenity on his face.

My Mom abruptly stood up and hollered, "Time for dessert, girls come in and help me serve it up." She dashed into the kitchen with the girls on her heels.

As soon as the door closed Joe said, "I'm leaving Mrs. Mazur, Mr. Plum tell Mrs. Plum I couldn't stand to stay in the company of such horrible liars but dinner was remarkable as usual," with that he made an about face and left the room stomping his way out the door.

I felt a collective sigh of happiness as the tension level in the room dropped to zero. My Dad turned to Carlos and said, "That man has bothered me since Pumpkin was 6; you keep him the hell away from her. Understand?"

"Yes sir"

"Good, so tell me why you don't ever drive anything American. I only ever see you in foreign cars?" OMG my Dad was making conversation; he never makes conversation with anyone, ever. I don't even think he talks to my Mom.

"I used to have an awesome Dodge Ram truck but someone got it blown up and I haven't been able to get another one since, it was my favorite. I don't have anything against American made though," finished Carlos.

"Good enough, I once had a truck that was wrapped around a pole by Val when she turned 16, I've never bought another truck since. Do you remember that Val?"

"Yes Daddy"

My Mom walked in then with the girls behind her each carrying two plates with chocolate cake. After everyone was given their piece of cake Angie took Joe's empty seat and Mary Alice rather quickly and unexpectedly jumped into Carlos' lap to eat hers. I don't think she's ever sat in any other male's lap but Dad but she seemed to have bonded with Carlos before dinner. She immediately started asking more questions about horses and Carlos regaled the whole table with stories of when he had ridden with his cousins and grandparents. It was a fun evening after Joe left and eventually Carlos and I made our way back to Haywood.

**RPOV**

After Joe finally left the atmosphere at the Plum house seemed much more stable and relaxed. I'm glad he showed up at least now he understands that Steph is living with me on a permanent basis. Mary Alice shocked the shit out of me when she jumped in my lap, I expected her to sit with her Mom or Albert but I definitely didn't expect her to jump into mine. I really do like both of Steph's nieces but Mary is so much like Steph it's really amazing, her feisty zest for life is just as bright and welcoming. I wonder if Steph would ever want to have kids and if they would be like her, something to question at a later date. Finally we were able to finally make our way back to Haywood, time for the games to begin.

At the dinner table I had teased her with the possibility of some handcuffs and a riding crop and she actually looked like she might burst with excitement at the dinner table, it was fuckhot to see her want that kind of treatment. She knew, as well as I, that she had all the power when it came to these dom/submissive games, one word from her and it all ends but I knew she liked it too much to give up easily; plus I would never do anything humiliating or inappropriately painful to her. This whole role play was all about the fine line between pleasure and pain and trusting your partner. I guess that's why we liked this game because we both knew we could trust the other implicitly, I wonder if she would ever want to dominate me, that could be fun I'm normally always the dominate one but I think I could let Steph take control over me for a little fun, but not tonight. Oh no, tonight was all about making Steph beg.

Once we finally made into the apartment I was relieved I would finally be able to start the entertainment for the evening. As soon as the door closed I crushed Steph into the adjoining wall and attacked her lips with a bruising kiss that held all the passion I felt building throughout the night, the same passion that was always just under the surface waiting for us to have time alone.

"Are you ready for some fun, my love?" I whispered into her ear when I pulled back from a lack of oxygen. Her reply was swift, husky and simple, "Yes."

I moved my arms down her sides and then under her ass and lifted her up, she did as I intended and wrapped her legs around my waist and arms around my neck. I swiftly made our way into the bedroom and sat her down in the center of the room. I walked over to my dresser and hit play on my ipod to play some relaxing music and then to my leather arm chair and sat down getting ready for a show. I commanded, "Strip slowly, tease me lover."

Steph very torturously began to remove her clothes while rolling her hips to the sway of old school Sade. She began by removing the clip that held her wild hair, knowing how much I like it when its free for me to run my fingers throughout and for me to grab for leverage. After shaking her hair free she started skimming her body with her hands slowly over her hips and waist up the swell of her breasts into her hair and back down again, she gently massaged herself through her shirt and then down to the hem of her shirt where she finally pulled it up and over her head. She caressed her naked skin with her fingertips and moved her hands down to her khaki skirt and began to work the button and zipper once it was open she turned around so that her back was to me as she gently and slowly pushed her skirt down to the floor while bending over in the process giving me a great view of her ass. I was already hard from the start of her show but when she looked at me from her upside down position and smiled shyly I could tell I grew harder once again and I couldn't suppress the growl that rumbled out of my chest. She finally stood up and again caressed her own skin but eventually she moved her hands to the back of her bra and I saw her unhook the offending garment and toss it across the room in my direction. When she turned around she held an arm across her chest blocking my view of her beautiful breasts, after a few seconds of swaying her hips to the beat she began to remove her arm from covering her breasts to begin to play with her own nipples. It's always a turn on to watch a woman bring herself pleasure and this case was no different. To watch her pull and twist and massage herself was a great way to enjoy any evening. Finally we were down to the last piece of clothing on her goddess like body, just her panties were left. She surprised me when she didn't turn around to remove them; she just hooked her thumbs into the side of the panties and slowly slithered them off her hips and down her long legs. Now she was naked, just the way I loved her.

What she said next made me want to purr, "Master I'm done, what else would you like me to do for you tonight?" God I loved this woman.

"You did very well; I will take over from here. I want you to close your eyes and wait for me right where you are." With that I got out of my chair and walked into my closet. I removed a set of hand cuffs and a riding crop out of a chest I had in my closet. In the door frame of my closet there's an old pull up bar that I use sometimes and it was the perfect spot to strap Steph to, especially since there's a full length mirror she would be able to look into directly across from the door. She would be able to watch me from behind as well as when I'm in front of her.

I walked back to her and began to lead her over to the door of the closet. She kept her eyes closed the whole time even when I laced the cuffs on both wrists and attached her to the bar in the door frame. She was being a good girl because she knew that I hadn't given her permission to open her eyes yet, even though I could tell she desperately wanted to open them because when the cool metal touched her wrists both her eyebrows went shooting up into her hair line. Finally I told her to open her eyes and she did, almost instinctively looking at me though the mirror her eyes shone with undisguised lust and want. I knew the next few hours would be very fun indeed.

I played with the crop in my hand by slapping it a few times on my hand drawing her attention to the instrument of her pleasure and torture for the evening. I started by letting the leather run over her body lightly eliciting a trail of goosebumps over her exposed flesh. Over her shoulders, down her spine, over her nicely shaped ass, down each legs before moving to her front and repeating from the bottom up first going up her legs, lightly over her hips, up her stomach, circling her breasts and then finally up the side of her neck and over both her arms. I was moving torturously slow so the anticipation of the first hit would be that much more fun. I wanted her begging for release before I would allow her to have my cock right where I knew she needed it most to feel complete because I needed it in the same place to feel fulfilled.

I moved behind her again where I trailed the crop down her leg and back up but before I got to her ass again I let the crop tap her on the top back of her thigh. She let out a low level moan with shock registering on her face. I repeated it again on her other leg then trailed the crop up and down her legs again before making two quick hits on the back of each thigh once again but harder this time. From there on I starting moving the quick hits to each ass cheek creating a delicious pink hue over her plump ass cheeks. I could tell it was starting to affect her even more when I saw some of her fluids running over the top of each thigh. So as not to torture myself I got down on my knees from behind her, griped her thighs harshly and began to lick her pussy juices right off her thighs, I was rewarded by more juice being supplied for my pleasure. I guess Steph couldn't handle it because that's when the begging began.

"Please Carlos, Master please…I uuuhhh," panting heavily and frustrated Steph didn't finish her sentence because I quickly stopped my tongue cleaning with the utter of her first please.

"No," and I picked up my crop again and began to trail the tip of the leather around her hips to the front of her body where I smacked the head against the interior of each thigh so as to get her to spread her thighs for me. She did as I intended, good girl. I started using the crop again all over the front and interior of her thighs leaving her pale skin awash with a pink tint again, and then I moved quickly to begin my assault on her nipples. I knew this was her first time with a crop so I didn't want to overwork her sensitive nipples but I did want her to know what it would feel like. At the first hit of leather on nipple Steph moaned low in her throat and arched her back towards me with her head thrown back. Her reaction had me on pins and needles to get my cock buried inside of her faster, so I began talking to her all the while using the crop on her breasts and nipples making them oversensitive for my touch later.

"Babe, do you want to ask me anything?"

"Please…" Steph moaned from a hit made next to but not on her left nipple.

"Please what Amante?"

"Please… I need…you." Mmmm… I always like it when she begs.

"Where do you need me, Babe?" I just needed to tease her a little more because I sure as fuck like it when she has a dirty mouth.

"Pussy," was the only word she uttered, so I decided to fuck with her a little and let my next hit land directly where her clit is located.

"Fuck," Stephanie yelled out panting and shaking with her eyes closed tightly.

"Was that what you needed Amante?" I knew it wasn't but like I said I want her begging and pleading for my cock.

"Fuck … no," she panted, "I need your cock inside my pussy. Please Carlos I need it." Good God the look in her eyes and the way she was looking at me almost caused me to fall to me knees and worship her. She was breathing hard with a slight sheen of sweat covering her body, but it was her eyes that were the best, they were hooded and a deep indigo that always tells me she's on the brink of losing control. It's fuckhot! I would worship her; all in due time, cause tonight was about her being my play thing.

Slowly I pulled my shirt over my head watching as Steph tracked every movement I made with her eyes. I could see her hands twitching to touch, and noticed when her tongue darted out to taste her lips probably wishing it was me she tasted on her mouth. Slowly I moved behind her and started caressing her skin with a feather light touch starting on her sides and slowly moving inwards and upwards while maintaining eye contact in the mirror with her. I was aching to reach her nipples and breasts and feel their weight in my hands but I wanted to drag it out for both of us because the wait always makes the outcome that much more sweet. Finally getting to her breast I began to pull and pinch and whisper in her ear, "Babe your making me so hard just letting me do what I please, Amante. You're making me such a happy man; no one can make me as happy as you. I can't wait to get inside that pussy of yours tonight, it's probably weeping for me all over your thighs huh baby."

When she didn't respond I pinched her nipples hard causing her to cry out a little, then she uttered the throaty, "yes," that I was waiting for. "We'll I'm not going to get to that pussy just quite yet, there's somewhere else that I need to explore before that. Somewhere only I will ever be allowed. Do you remember your colors Babe?" I wanted to make sure she still remembers, so she could stop no matter what I proceeded with; she nodded her head that she did remember. I asked her to repeat them and she said green she's good, yellow to slow down and red to stop immediately.

"Which color are you lover?" I had to check before proceeding on my newest mission for my Babe to broaden her horizons with some backdoor play.

"Greeeen," moaned out when right hand began its decent south.

**SPOV**

I was already in the mind set of serving and being played, God Carlos knew how to turn my body to goo. This feeling of submission to him while he played my body, its hard to even describe, it's all encompassing. It leaves me feeling beautiful and loved and so completely fucking turned on that I can't even see straight. I felt a warming fire all over my heated body after he finished with the riding crop, everything Carlos touched burned in a deliciously tempting way, even the circulation of the fan on my nipples felt unbelievable. I wasn't anticipating what he wanted to do until he was already kneeling behind me.

Dickie tried to take me from behind once and it was the most painful and excruciating experience of my sexual life. Losing my virginity was nothing compared to what he tried to do to me. That's why for so long I had a no doggy style rule and a no butt stuff rule. Carlos was the first with the doggy style and after that night I finally let Joe use it also but only when I told him if he ever tried to "slip" it into the other entrance I would taser him while he was naked right in his balls. He never tried thankfully because I was dead serious about his consequences.

As slowly as his earlier build up was with the crop his introduction to my ass was swift and fierce. He used both his hands to grab both ass cheeks to spread them apart quickly and then he licked a deliciously hot and wet tongue from my pussy all the way over my ass which no one had touched. Both his hands were busy making themselves acquainted with the fleshy part of my ass. Surprisingly I didn't flinch at all, I moved my hips back trying to make more of myself fit into his hands. He started to run his tongue all over my little rose bud penetrating it just a little bit. I sounded like a wanton whore. I loved it, the act itself was naughty and forbidden and exactly what all good little Burg girls didn't do.

I don't know exactly what I sounded like but I knew in my head I just kept chanting please over and over again. But the only sound I could hear was my moaning that sound more like, "pl, pl, pl…" I don't think I could form a complete word let alone a sentence especially when his right hand moved around to the front of my hip and started play with my clit. The next thing I heard was Carlos whispering in my ear to open my eyes he was standing up behind me now. With one hand playing with my clit the other delved deep into my pussy pumping a few times and then he pulled back and began to rim my ass before slowly entering me with just one finger I will say the sensation was very different since the muscle is so strong back there but once he got past the main muscle it was exquisite. I came within a few gentle strokes, all the while staring into Carlos' eyes, he was breathing heavy too and I knew he wasn't going to wait much longer to be buried deep inside my pussy and I couldn't say I wasn't looking forward to it.

While I was still coming down from my high I was being unlocked from my handcuff prison and then I was abruptly thrown on the bed. Within seconds I felt Carlos push himself inside me and the roughness of the act had me cumming immediately. The rest of the night was spent in different states of blissful torture either being deprived of cock or being driven into so much I almost begged for it to stop, but who was I kidding I never wanted it to stop. It all felt too good, even when it hurt.

**A/N: I know seriously forever since I last updated. I'm sorry it was never my intention to just stop. I do plan on finishing. I love both my stories, actually this one a little more. I hope everyone will stick with me but if not that's ok. As always feedback is always welcome. **


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